Cornelius Stanton

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Cornelius Stanton was a mid-9th-century Northumbrian piper.

Contents

Life

Stanton was born in Gateshead in 1799. [1] In 1841, he was recorded in the census as living in Newcastle, in Cumberland Row, Westgate Road, [2] where he lived until his father's death in 1853. Stanton then moved to Tynemouth, where he stayed until his death in 1866. [3]

Musical significance

Stanton is a figure of importance in the history of the Northumbrian smallpipe's instrument repertoire.

In 1858, William Kell, of the Ancient Melodies Committee set up by the Newcastle Society of Antiquaries, noted that Stanton owned the printed tunebook of John Peacock. [4] This book was published sometime around 1800, and was one of only four surviving copies of its kind. At the Committee's launch, Kell addressed the Duke of Northumberland, the patron of the Society, and specifically thanked Stanton. [5] Stanton also had a significant collection of music manuscripts, some of which are now bound in the Fenwick manuscript, while two manuscript books belonged to the late Lance Robson, who distributed transcripts throughout the Northumbrian Musical Heritage Society. Together, these two groups of papers give a picture of an able and enthusiastic amateur piper in the mid-19th century.

In addition to local pieces, including variation sets from Peacock's collection and popular Tyneside songs, Stanton played many Scots and Irish tunes, as well as popular songs and dance tunes of the day. Some nursery rhymes are included, perhaps for the benefit of a young pupil. One variation set on Sir John Fenwick's "The Flower Among Them All", needing a keyed chanter, corresponds to that found in the Rook manuscript, and may derive from the Reid family, who lived nearby in North Shields; another tune in Stanton's hand "Shew's the Way to Wallington", is identical to a version in the Fenwick manuscript, there stated to be James Reid's copy. Scans of two of the Stanton pages in the Fenwick manuscript are on a WordPress site titled "Northumberland Small-Piping in North Shields". [6] [7] These are for unkeyed and keyed chanter respectively. These tunes are in relatively simple versions, suitable for someone learning the instrument, suggesting that Fenwick studied the instrument with Stanton. Two of Stanton's tunes in Fenwick, "Little wot ye wha's coming" and "Blackett of Wylam", were explicitly attributed to Peacock by him, although they are not in Peacock's printed tunebook. These tunes appear in the manuscripts of Peacock's pupil Robert Bewick, so the attribution is very credible. [8] In 1881, John Stokoe, one of the editors of the Northumbrian Minstrelsy, referred to some of Stanton's manuscripts, then in the possession of the piper T. Errington Thompson, of Sewing Shields. He described Stanton as "an amateur performer on the small pipes, and an ardent lover of their music." The Minstrelsy and, in this article, Stokoe printed the tune "Follow Her Over the Border", taken from these manuscripts. [9]

Stanton had an unusual, perhaps unique, set of smallpipes made with 6 drones rather than 4 or 5, which was assembled by James Reid using parts made by his father Robert. Having 6 drones made it easier to change keys while playing. A picture of this set was used as the frontispiece of James Fenwick's "Instruction Book for the Northumbrian Smallpipes", published in 1896.

Related Research Articles

The border pipes are a type of bagpipe related to the Scottish Great Highland Bagpipe. It is perhaps confusable with the Scottish smallpipe, although it is a quite different and much older instrument. Although most modern Border pipes are closely modelled on similar historic instruments, the modern Scottish smallpipes are a modern reinvention, inspired by historic instruments but largely based on Northumbrian smallpipes in their construction.

Northumbrian smallpipes

The Northumbrian smallpipes are bellows-blown bagpipes from North East England, where they have been an important factor in the local musical culture for more than 200 years. The family of the Duke of Northumberland have had an official piper for over 250 years, and in more recent times the Mayor of Gateshead and the Lord Mayor of Newcastle have both re-established the tradition by appointing official Northumbrian pipers.

Here Northumbria is defined as Northumberland, the northernmost county of England, and County Durham. According to 'World Music: The Rough Guide', "nowhere is the English living tradition more in evidence than the border lands of Northumbria, the one part of England to rival the counties of the west of Ireland for a rich unbroken tradition. The region is particularly noted for its tradition of border ballads, the Northumbrian smallpipe and also a strong fiddle tradition in the region that was already well established in the 1690s. Northumbrian music is characterised by considerable influence from other regions, particularly southern Scotland and other parts of the north of England, as well as Irish immigrants.

The Northumbrian Pipers' Society was founded to promote both types of Northumbrian bagpipes – the Northumbrian smallpipes and the half-long pipes, now generally known as the Border pipes. There had been several attempts to encourage the pipes and their music during the 19th century, but no society was formed with this specific aim until the Northumbrian Small Pipes Society in 1893. That society organised a series of competitions, in which Richard Mowat and Henry Clough were both prizewinners. However it was short-lived, dissolving around 1899. Today the society is divided into two branches, the main branch based in Morpeth, and the Cleveland branch based in Sedgefield.

Tom Clough (1881–1964), known as "The Prince of Pipers", was an English player of the Northumbrian pipes, or Northumbrian smallpipes. He was also a pipemaker, and the pipes he made with Fred Picknell include several important innovations, and have a distinctive tone. He had studied the instrument with the noted piper Thomas Todd, and from his own father Henry Clough. His three surviving recordings, among the earliest recordings made of the instrument, and his considerable body of music manuscripts, including his own compositions, give considerable insight into the traditional playing technique and style of the instrument. This is particularly so because at least four previous generations of the family had been pipers, as was his son 'Young Tom' (1912–1987) – they thus form a continuous link between earliest players of the modern instrument, and contemporary players. In contrast to the widely accepted notion of traditional folk music as an essentially rural activity, he and his family lived in the mining community of Newsham in south-east Northumberland, and were miners themselves. At the end of his life, "Young Tom" recalled piping sessions at the 'Willow Tree' in Newsham, with his father Tom, grandfather Henry Clough, and Richard Mowat all playing – Henry's and Richard Mowat's playing would get more furious and inaccurate as the evening progressed; Tom was teetotal. Young Tom had the job of carrying his grandfather's pipes afterwards. There is a composite photograph of the Clough family at. Here Tom himself is on the left, his pipemaking collaborator Fred Picknell standing behind him, his father Henry Clough and son 'Young Tom' standing towards the right, while an older image of Tom's grandfather "Old Tom", seated piping in the foreground, has been added subsequently. Old Tom died in 1885, and the main photograph was taken in 1924. The other figure, seated on the far right, is believed to be Captain Nicholson of Haydon Bridge, a traditional fiddler.

William Dixon manuscript

The William Dixon manuscript, written down between 1733 and 1738 in Northumberland, is the oldest known manuscript of pipe music from the British Isles, and the most important source of music for the Border pipes. It is currently located in the A.K. Bell Library, Perth, Scotland. Little is known of William Dixon's biography, except what has been learned from this manuscript, and from parish records in Northumberland.

John Peacock was one of the finest Northumbrian smallpipers of his age, and probably a fiddler also, and the last of the Newcastle Waits. He studied the smallpipes with Old William Lamshaw, of Morpeth, and later with Joseph Turnbull, of Alnwick.

Doddington, Northumberland Human settlement in England

The village and parish of Doddington are on the east side of the Milfield Plain, nearly 3 miles north of the town of Wooler, in the county of Northumberland, England. Notable buildings in Doddington include Doddington Hall and the Anglican church of St Mary and St Michael, which was built in the 18th century on the site of an original 12th-century place of worship. Wooler Golf Course is also near Doddington.

Henry Clough was an English player of the Northumbrian pipes, or Northumbrian smallpipes. He was a miner, listing his trade as a hewer, and he lived in Newsham, in south-eastern Northumberland. He was the father of Tom Clough, 'The Prince of Pipers'. Several previous generations of the family had also been pipers, Henry's father, 'Old Tom' (1830-1885), and grandfather Henry (1789-1842) among them. Since the instrument assumed its modern keyed form at the beginning of the 19th century, the family's playing tradition goes back unbroken to that time. There is a photograph of Henry with his son at, while a photograph of Henry, his son Tom (III), and grandson Tom (IV) playing at Bellingham Show in 1926, is at.

Robert Reid is widely acknowledged as the creator of the modern form of the Northumbrian Smallpipes. He lived and worked at first in Newcastle upon Tyne, but moved later to the nearby town of North Shields at the mouth of the Tyne, probably in 1802. North Shields was a busy port at this time. The Reids were a family with a long-standing connection to piping; Robert's father Robert Reed (sic), a cabinet maker, had been a player of the Northumbrian big-pipes, and an associate of James Allan, his son Robert was described later by James Fenwick as a beautiful player as well as maker of smallpipes, while Robert's son James (1814–1874) joined his father in the business. Robert died in North Shields on the 13th or 14th of January 1837, and his death notice in the Newcastle Journal referred to him as a "piper, and as a maker of such instruments is known from the peer to the peasant, for the quality of their tone, and elegance of finish". He is buried in the graveyard of Christ Church, North Shields. His wife Isabella died in 1849, of cholera. There were repeated outbreaks of the disease at this time especially in the poor 'low town', near the river, where the Reids lived.

John Dunn was a noted pipemaker, or maker of bagpipes. Born in Newcastle upon Tyne, England, Dunn was a cabinet maker by profession, initially a junior partner with George Brummell. In the trade directories, he also appears in his own right as a turner and a plumb maker and turner. His address was Bell's Court, off Pilgrim Street. He was buried on 6 February 1820 in St. John's, Newcastle. His father may have been one John Dunn of Longhorsley; if so, he was born on 3 September 1764. He should not be confused with one M. Dunn, the maker of several surviving sets of Union pipes.

Colin Ross was an English folk musician who played fiddle and Northumbrian smallpipes. He was a noted maker of Northumbrian smallpipes, border pipes and Scottish smallpipes, and one of the inventors of the modern Scottish smallpipes.

Robert Bewick

Robert Elliot Bewick (1788–1849) was the son of the engraver Thomas Bewick. He was trained in engraving by his father, but is primarily remembered now as a player of the Northumbrian smallpipes.

The Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle upon Tyne, the oldest provincial antiquarian society in England, was founded in 1813. It is a registered charity under English law.

John Stokoe was a 19th-century Tyneside author and historian. He co-operated with the author John Collingwood Bruce in compiling the hugely important “Northumbrian Minstrelsy” published in 1882.

Northumbrian Minstrelsy is a book of 18th and 19th century North East of England folk songs and pipe music, intended to be a lasting historical record. The book was edited by John Stokoe and the Rev John Collingwood Bruce LL.D., F.S.A., and published by and on behalf of the Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle upon Tyne in 1882. It was reprinted in 1965 by Folklore Associates, Hatboro, Pennsyslvania, with a foreword by A. L. Lloyd.

William Green (1775–1860) was a player of the Northumbrian smallpipes, and the Piper to the Duchess of Northumberland from 1806 until 1849. He was assisted in this role by his nephew Robert Nicholson (1798–1842), and his son William Thomas (Tom) Green (1823–1898). Tom then succeeded his father as Ducal Piper until 1892. Father, nephew and son thus held some of the most influential piping roles in the county for a period of almost ninety years.

The Northumbrian Small Pipes Society was founded in 1893, by members of the Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle upon Tyne to promote interest in, and playing of Northumbrian smallpipes, and their music. As it only continued in existence for seven years, it is now regarded primarily as a short-lived precursor to the Northumbrian Pipers' Society. However, despite its short life, it played a significant role, publishing the first tutor for the instrument, J. W. Fenwick's Instruction Book for the Northumbrian Small-Pipes (1896), holding regular meetings, and organising annual competitions. In 1894 and 1896-7, the society published Transactions, as well as publishing an account of their Annual Meeting of 1897. As well as Members, who paid an annual 5s. subscription, there was a category of Honorary Playing Members. Since the society's records include the names and addresses of all members, of either kind, they have listed the names and addresses for 37 known pipers. Two articles in the Newcastle Courant, in April 1900, gave an account of their Annual General Meeting, at the Literary and Philosophical Society, and referred to the society as flourishing, with 200 members, of whom almost half were pipers. Officers were elected for the following year; however there is no subsequent record of any formal activity of the society, such as meetings or competitions. In 1906, when the Cloughs played for King Edward VII at Alnwick Castle, an account of this in the Berwickshire News stated that the Northumbrian Small Pipes Society had done some good work in reviving interest, but that 'seven winters had passed without it giving any signs of life'. This suggests that the society had been largely inactive for some time before its final AGM.

The J.W. Fenwick manuscript, compiled in the second half of the 19th century, is a compilation of Northumbrian pipe music, together with other material associated with the instrument. Fenwick was a tailor, who lived in North Shields from about 1841. The same town was the home of the Reid family of pipers and pipemakers, and several other prominent pipers lived nearby. By 1894 Fenwick was described as "one of the oldest and best-known small pipes players in the county"; by this time he seems to have been playing for about 50 years. The manuscript was apparently being compiled throughout this period.

The Rook manuscript, compiled by John Rook, of Waverton, Cumbria in 1840, is a large collection of traditional music from Scotland, Northern England and Ireland.

References

  1. [ dead link ]
  2. England and Wales Census, 1841. https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M7WZ-4RF : 7 September 2017
  3. Shields Daily News, 20 February 1866, recovered from British Newspaper Archive.
  4. Peacock's Tunes, 2nd ed., Northumbrian Pipers' Society (1999), ISBN   0-902510-19-3
  5. Alnwick Mercury, Tuesday 01 December 1857, recovered from British Newspaper Archive.
  6. "Music notation". northshieldsnsp.co.uk.
  7. "Music notation". northshieldsnsp.co.uk.
  8. Bewick's Pipe Tunes, ed. Matt Seattle, Northumbrian Pipers' Society, 2010, ISBN   978-0-902510-32-6
  9. Newcastle Courant, 3 June 1881, article "Northumbrian Pipe and Ballad Music", retrieved from British Newspaper Archive.