Northumbrian Gathering

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The Northumbrian Gathering is an annual gathering held in Morpeth, Northumberland celebrating the traditional culture of Northumberland and the wider North East region. [1] The gathering is held over a weekend in mid April and celebrates music, dance, crafts and dialects of the county, including reenactments of famous events including battles, exhibitions, competitions and workshops. [2] [3] [4] [5] The Border Cavalcade and Pageant through the town happens ever year and draws crowds. [3] [6] [7] The 50th gathering took place in 2017, and consisted of several traditional dances, workshops, musical performances, a barn dance and the Border Cavalcade and Pageant. [8] [9]

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Archie Dagg was a shepherd and traditional fiddler, piper and composer from central Northumberland. He was born at Linbriggs, in Upper Coquetdale, and except for his time in the Army at the end of the First World War, lived all his life in that region. In the late 1930s, he was a member of the English Sheepdog Trials Team; when competing with them in Scotland, he would play Scottish tunes on the Northumbrian smallpipes, and found he would get a steady supply of free drams.

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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.

"Old" William Lamshaw, (c.1712-1798), was one of the earliest players of the Northumbrian Smallpipes of whom much is known. Besides being a celebrated piper in his own right, appointed to the post of piper to the Duchess of Northumberland after the death of Joseph Turnbull in 1775, he was the teacher of several other known pipers, and the grandfather of Young William Lamshaw, who succeeded him as piper to the Duchess.

John Milburn, known as Muckle Jock, was a player of the Border pipes, from near Bellingham in Northumberland. His pipes, which survive, are in the Cocks collection at the Morpeth Chantry Bagpipe Museum; his family referred to this set as the 'half-long' pipes. Some more detailed photographs of this set of pipes, taken by Anita Evans, are at. Tradition states that this instrument was given to Muckle Jock in around 1772 by Col. Reid of Chipchase Castle; Milburn would only have been about 18 at the time, if this tradition is correct. The museum catalogue entry for his pipes states that they subsequently belonged to his grandson Lewis Proudlock. The statement is incorrect in detail, for while Proudlock's mother was a Milburn, she was not Muckle Jock's daughter; it seems almost certain that they were related, however. Although Muckle Jock's pipes survive, unfortunately there is no direct evidence of the music he played on them.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northumbria (modern)</span> Area in North East England

Northumbria, in modern contexts, usually refers to the region of England between the Tees and Tweed, including the historic counties of Northumberland and Durham, but it may also be taken to be synonymous with North East England. The area corresponds to the rump lands of the historical Kingdom of Northumbria, which later developed into the late medieval county of Northumberland or Comitatus Northumbriae, whose original southern boundary was the River Tees. A provincial flag of Northumbria has been registered.

References

  1. "Morpeth Northumbrian Gathering - Northumbriana". www.northumbriana.org.uk.
  2. Daniel, Brian (25 June 2013). "Morpeth Gathering pays tribute to royal wedding". The Journal. Retrieved 6 December 2018.
  3. 1 2 "A special gathering at Morpeth". northumberlandgazette.co.uk. Northumberland Gazette. 25 April 2014. Retrieved 6 December 2018.
  4. Aitch, Iain (11 April 2011). "Event preview: Morpeth Northumbrian Gathering, Morpeth". The Guardian . Retrieved 6 December 2018.
  5. Brown, Gemma (26 April 2017). "Abbey's dialect songs gather a double win". Hexham Courant .
  6. Black, David (13 April 2012). "Morpeth's Olympics links recalled at Northumbrian Gathering". The Journal.
  7. "Abundance of characters in Gathering pageant". Morpeth Herald. 20 April 2015.
  8. "Morpeth is all set for a golden Gathering". Morpeth Herald. 15 April 2017. Retrieved 3 December 2018.
  9. "Barn dance to bring to an end golden year celebrations". morpethherald.co.uk. Morpeth Herald. 16 November 2017. Retrieved 3 December 2018.