Here
Northumbria
la, Regnum Northanhymbrorum
, conventional_long_name = Kingdom of Northumbria
, common_name = Northumbria
, status = State
, status_text = Unified Anglian kingdom (before 876)North: Anglian kingdom (af ...
is defined as
Northumberland
Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey.
It is bordered by land ...
, the northernmost county of
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
, 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
Border ballads are a group of songs in the long tradition of balladry collected from the Anglo-Scottish border. Like all traditional ballads, they were traditionally sung unaccompanied. There may be a repeating motif, but there is no "chorus" as ...
, the
Northumbrian smallpipes (a form of
bagpipe
Bagpipes are a woodwind instrument using enclosed reeds fed from a constant reservoir of air in the form of a bag. The Great Highland bagpipes are well known, but people have played bagpipes for centuries throughout large parts of Europe, ...
s unique to North East England) 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 (and vice versa), particularly southern
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...
and other parts of the north of England, as well as Irish immigrants.
Local musical forms and styles
Northumbria shares with southern Scotland the long history of
border ballad
Border ballads are a group of songs in the long tradition of balladry collected from the Anglo-Scottish border. Like all traditional ballads, they were traditionally sung unaccompanied. There may be a repeating motif, but there is no "chorus" as ...
s, such as '
The Ballad of Chevy Chase
"The Ballad of Chevy Chase" is an English ballad, catalogued as Child Ballad 162 ( Roud 223Sehere/ref>). There are two extant ballads under this title, both of which narrate the same story. As ballads existed within oral tradition before being wr ...
'. It is also known for local dances, namely
rapper dancing and Durham and Northumberland style
clog dancing
Clog dancing is a form of step dance characterised by the wearing of inflexible, wooden soled clogs. Clog dancing developed into differing intricate forms both in Wales and also in the North of England. Welsh clog dancing mainly originates fro ...
. The dance music of Northumbria differs markedly in style from that of the rest of England. It has more in common with Irish dance music, and especially Scottish dance music, yet is to some extent unique. Many dances from the region have the characteristic rant step.
Although many tunes are shared with other regions of England or other nations, there is often a distinct difference between a Northumbrian version of a tune and versions from elsewhere. For instance a simple Irish tune, 'The Chorus Jig', with three strains, appears in the Northumbrian tradition as 'Holey Ha'penny', an ornate five-strain variation set. A Scottish strathspey, 'Struan Robertson's Rant' appears, stripped of the Scotch snap, as a smallpipe tune, 'Cuckold come out of the Amrey', a long variation set. These two examples illustrate the impossibility of ascribing a regional origin to an old tune; each can be played on a primitive instrument, and may have been played for as long before first publication, as they have been since. Assumptions of regional origins can bedevil the study of music undertaken by enthusiastic musicians (who may sadly follow partisan allegiances) however regional versions and styles (like Northumbrian) are quite a different matter, having reliable established sources.
Tunes in hornpipe rhythm are much appreciated in the region, both for playing and for dancing, particularly clog dancing. One rhythm characteristic of the region is the rant, used for figure dances such as ''The Morpeth Rant'' with a characteristic step; musically it is similar to a reel, though somewhat slower, and with more of a lilt.
During 1770–2
William Vickers made a manuscript collection of local
dance tunes, of which some 580 survive, including both pipe and fiddle tunes, many of which are from Scotland, southern England, Ireland and even
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
, revealing the very extensive and varied repertoire of local musicians at that time.
Bagpipe music
![Durham UOTC border pipes](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cb/Durham_UOTC_border_pipes.jpg)
In the later medieval period pipe music appears to have been characterized by the use of the Northumbrian 'war pipe', which may have been the ancestor of the
Great Highland Bagpipe, but no example has survived. It appears to have been replaced in the region by the eighteenth century by a variety of pipes, ranging from the conical bore, open-ended
border pipes, to the cylindrically bored
smallpipes; the closed-ended form with its single
octave compass and closed
fingering is known to have existed since the seventeenth century, and open-ended forms were also known. The Union or
Pastoral pipes
The pastoral pipe (also known as the hybrid union pipes, organ pipe and union pipe) was a bellows-blown bagpipe, widely recognised as the forerunner and ancestor of the 19th-century union pipes, which became the uilleann pipes of today.Brian. E. M ...
, the precursor of the Irish
Uilleann pipes
The uilleann pipes ( or , ) are the characteristic national bagpipe of Ireland. Earlier known in English as "union pipes", their current name is a partial translation of the Irish language terms (literally, "pipes of the elbow"), from thei ...
, are also known to have been played and made in the region. The earliest known bagpipe manuscript from the UK is a tunebook by
William Dixon of
Stamfordham in Northumberland, dated 1733. This includes forty tunes with extensive sets of
variations
Variation or Variations may refer to:
Science and mathematics
* Variation (astronomy), any perturbation of the mean motion or orbit of a planet or satellite, particularly of the moon
* Genetic variation, the difference in DNA among individua ...
. Some of the tunes correspond to later versions of known smallpipe tunes; others, with a nine-note compass, must have been played either on Border pipes or on an open-ended smallpipe, like the
Scottish smallpipes
The Scottish smallpipe is a bellows-blown bagpipe re-developed by Colin Ross and many others, adapted from an earlier design of the instrument. There are surviving bellows-blown examples of similar historical instruments as well as the mouth-bl ...
.
In the early nineteenth century, makers such as
John Dunn and
Robert and James Reid added
keys to the closed-ended smallpipe, extending its range to almost two octaves. With its greater flexibility, the instrument became more fashionable at this time. On the other hand, the Border pipes seem not to have been found in Northumberland much after the middle of the century, though they were revived as the 'half-long pipes' in the 1920s and more successfully in the 1970s and 80s.
Many families have been associated with traditional Northumbrian piping. Will Allan (Old Wull) and his son James (Jemmy) were noted pipers in the eighteenth century: James played on several occasions for the
Countess of Northumberland. In 1756 Joseph Turnbull was appointed piper to the Countess. The Percy family have continued to maintain a piper to this day. Contrary to popular tradition, the Duke's current piper, Richard Butler, has written that "there is no record in the Percy Archives (Alnwick Castle) recording that James Allan was Piper to the Duchess or Duke". Turnbull's pupil,
John Peacock was probably the first Northumbrian piper to play a keyed chanter. Most notably, the Clough family of Newsham produced six generations of pipers, including
Tom Clough, who made an important early recording in 1929, and taught many pipers, including
Billy Pigg
Billy Pigg (1902 – 1968) was an English player of Northumbrian smallpipes. He was a vice-president and an influential member of the Northumbrian Pipers Society from 1930 until his death.
Life and music
He was born at Dilston Park, near Corbr ...
.
Fiddle music
The earliest source of music for
fiddle from Northumberland is
Henry Atkinson's tunebook from the 1690s. This includes tunes current in both the southern English and Scottish music of the time. A later source, unfortunately lost, was John Smith's tunebook from 1750. Some tunes from this were copied out by John Stokoe in the nineteenth century: these include an extended set of variations on the song ''The Keel Row'' for fiddle (the earliest known version), pipe tunes with variations such as ''Bold Wilkinson'', and a version of ''Jacky Layton'' with variations for fiddle. It is clear that as in Scotland, the playing of extended variation sets on the fiddle was current in Northumberland at the time. A slightly later source, the
William Vickers manuscript
From 1770-2 a man called William Vickers made a manuscript collection of dance tunes, of which some 580 survive, including both pipe and fiddle tunes. The manuscript is incomplete - 31 pages have not survived, though their contents are listed at t ...
, from 1770, and also for fiddle, contains 580 simple dance tunes, but few variation sets.
In the nineteenth century the most notable feature of the region's music was the popularity of the
hornpipe
The hornpipe is any of several dance forms played and danced in Britain and Ireland and elsewhere from the 16th century until the present day. The earliest references to hornpipes are from England with Hugh Aston's Hornepype of 1522 and others ...
in
4/4 time
The time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, or measure signature) is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats (pulses) are contained in each measure (bar), and which note value ...
, and in particular the very influential playing of the publican, fiddler and composer
James Hill. His compositions include 'The High Level Bridge', 'The Great Exhibition', 'The Beeswing', 'The Hawk' and many others. Many other fine tunes have been attributed to him, but these include some he cannot possibly have written. Another local composer, in the later 19th century, was the fiddler and dancing master
Robert Whinham, some 60 of whose compositions survive, notably the hornpipe 'Remember Me', and 'Whinham's Reel'.
In the early- and mid-twentieth century, influential fiddlers included Ned Pearson, Jim Rutherford, Adam Gray, George Hepple and Jake Hutton, father of the noted piper Joe Hutton. John Armstrong of Carrick played with the piper
Billy Pigg
Billy Pigg (1902 – 1968) was an English player of Northumbrian smallpipes. He was a vice-president and an influential member of the Northumbrian Pipers Society from 1930 until his death.
Life and music
He was born at Dilston Park, near Corbr ...
. In the later part of the century,
Willy Taylor was perhaps the most highly respected of the many fiddlers in the region.
Other instruments
Other musical instruments which have been used in the region include the flute and piccolo. Some nineteenth-century manuscripts contain tunes which are in keys and registers appropriate to the flute. Billy Ballantine was a piccolo player from the west of the region, who played for dances in the mid-twentieth century. The style of his playing was very distinctive, mixing staccato notes for rhythmic emphasis with more ornate passages. He made recordings of tunes like the ''Kielder Schottische'' and ''The Gilsland Hornpipe'' for the BBC. Billy Conroy made some recordings on home-made whistles.
Free reed instruments have been of growing importance since their development in the nineteenth century. In particular the mouth organ or "moothie" was played notably by
Will Atkinson
William Henry Atkinson (born 14 October 1988) is an English professional footballer who plays as a midfielder.
Having begun his professional career with Hull City in 2006, Atkinson spent time on loan with Port Vale, Mansfield Town, Rochdale (t ...
. As elsewhere in England the melodeon has been used for dance music.
Folk revivals
The first folk revival in the region tended to circulate around folk dance, the collection of border ballads and, from the later 1870s, the revival of interest in pipe music.
John Bell collected many tunes and songs from the region in the early nineteenth century. Later on, in the middle of the century the Ancient Melodies Committee of the
Newcastle Society of Antiquaries attempted a more comprehensive collection, based largely on manuscript and printed sources; this was later edited for publication by John Collingwood Bruce and John Stokoe.
The
Northumbrian Small Pipes Society
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 ...
was founded in Newcastle in 1893; although it was short-lived, only continuing until 1900, it ran a series of competitions, won by
Henry Clough and
Richard Mowat. The
Northumbrian Pipers' Society
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 a ...
was founded in 1928, and are generally credited with helping to keep the distinctive tradition alive. The first recordings of the
Northumbrian smallpipes
The Northumbrian smallpipes (also known as the Northumbrian pipes) are bellows-blown bagpipes from North East England, where they have been an important factor in the local musical culture for more than 250 years. The family of the Duke of Nor ...
were made in the late 1920s, including the HMV recording of
Tom Clough.
Border ballads were a major part of those collected by
Francis James Child
Francis James Child (February 1, 1825 – September 11, 1896) was an American scholar, educator, and folklorist, best known today for his collection of English and Scottish ballads now known as the Child Ballads. Child was Boylston professor of ...
and make up most of the sixth volume of his ten volume collection of ''
The English and Scottish Popular Ballads
The Child Ballads are 305 traditional ballads from England and Scotland, and their American variants, anthologized by Francis James Child during the second half of the 19th century. Their lyrics and Child's studies of them were published as ''T ...
'' (1882–98).
The second folk revival saw a number of acts drawing on this work, and enjoying some success. Probably the most influential piper from the region was
Billy Pigg
Billy Pigg (1902 – 1968) was an English player of Northumbrian smallpipes. He was a vice-president and an influential member of the Northumbrian Pipers Society from 1930 until his death.
Life and music
He was born at Dilston Park, near Corbr ...
, but other important pipers in the mid-twentieth century include
G. G. Armstrong, George Atkinson, Jack Armstrong, and
Joe Hutton. Figures such as
Lou Killen, The
High Level Ranters
The High Level Ranters are a Northumbrian traditional musical group founded in 1964, best known for being one of the first bands in the revival of the Northumbrian smallpipes.
Name and history
The name was chosen as a combination of the loca ...
and Bob Davenport brought Northumbrian folk to national and international audiences.
The most successful folk group from the region in the 1970s were
Lindisfarne, who played
progressive folk music
Progressive folk was originally a type of American folk music that pursued a progressive political agenda. More recently, the term has also been applied to a style of contemporary folk that draws from post-Bob Dylan folk music and adds new lay ...
with some local stylings. Much more concerned with traditional music from the region were the group that splintered from them in 1973
Jack the Lad
Jack the Lad were a British folk rock group from North East England formed in 1973 by three former members of the most successful band of the period from the region, Lindisfarne. They moved from the progressive folk rock of Lindisfarne into m ...
, and another group from which they gained some members
Hedgehog Pie
Hedgehog Pie were a British folk rock group from the north-east of England, that evolved between 1969 and 1971. Despite frequent line-up changes, they built up a considerable regional and national following and produced three highly regarded a ...
, who, for a time, provided a regional answer to the
British folk rock
British folk rock is a form of folk rock which developed in the United Kingdom from the mid 1960s, and was at its most significant in the 1970s. Though the merging of folk and rock music came from several sources, it is widely regarded that the ...
of bands like
Fairport Convention and
Steeleye Span. These groups have been seen as continuing an exploration of regional identity through folk music. Between their demise and revival in the 1990s, the local scene continued through groups like the more traditional Doonan family, which contained some of the finest folk flute players in the region. These groups have been seen as continuing an exploration of regional identity through folk music.
Another prolific figure from the 1970s to 2000s was
Eric Boswell. While best known for writing the Christmas song ''
Little Donkey
Little Donkey is a popular Christmas carol, written by British songwriter Eric Boswell in 1959, which describes the journey by Mary the mother of Jesus to Bethlehem on the donkey of the title.
The first version to chart was by Gracie Fields, fol ...
'', Boswell's local ballads like ''I've Got A Little Whippet'', ''Sweet Waters Of Tyne'' and ''Tyneside's Where I Come From'' often featured on
Tyne Tees and at
Newcastle City Hall
The Newcastle City Hall (currently known as O2 City Hall Newcastle for sponsorship reasons) is a concert hall located in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It has hosted many popular music and classical artists throughout the years, as well as stan ...
''Geordierama'' concerts and
The Little Waster Bobby Thompson and various others made recordings. Boswell's songs continue to be performed in folk clubs.
Colin Ross, has been influential not only as a player and teacher of the Northumbrian pipes, but has also been an important pipemaker, as David G. Burleigh was. Distinctive local sounds were much more marked in the next generation of traditional Northumbrian folk musicians such as Ed Pickford and Jez Lowe, who have reinvigorated the local scene and artists like fiddler
Nancy Kerr
Nancy Kerr (born 1975) is an English folk musician and songwriter, specialising in the fiddle and singing. She is a Principal Lecturer in Folk Music at Leeds Conservatoire and Newcastle University. She was the 2015 BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards "Folk ...
and piper
Kathryn Tickell
Kathryn Tickell, OBE, DL (born 8 June 1967) is an English musician, noted for playing the Northumbrian smallpipes and fiddle.
Music career Early life
Kathryn Tickell was born in Walsall, then in Staffordshire, to parents who originated fro ...
have gained international reputations, appearing on records with artists including
Kate Rusby
Kate Anna Rusby (born 4 December 1973) is an English folk singer-songwriter from Penistone, West Riding of Yorkshire, England. Sometimes called the "Barnsley Nightingale", she has headlined various British folk festivals, and is one of the be ...
,
Eliza Carthy
Eliza Amy Forbes Carthy, MBE (born 23 August 1975) is an English folk musician known for both singing and playing the fiddle. She is the daughter of English folk musicians singer/guitarist Martin Carthy and singer Norma Waterson.
Life and ca ...
and even
Sting. In 2003
June Tabor
June Tabor (born 31 December 1947 in Warwick, England) is an English folk singer known for her solo work and her earlier collaborations with Maddy Prior and with Oysterband.
Early life
June Tabor was born and grew up in Warwick, England. As ...
stimulated interest in the Border ballads with her highly regarded album ''
An Echo of Hooves''.
Thanks to the efforts of musicians like these in 2001
Newcastle University was the first to offer a performance-based degree programme in folk and traditional music in England. Currently the region has over thirty active folk clubs and hosts several major folk festivals, including the Traditional Music Festival at
Rothbury
Rothbury is a market town and civil parish in Northumberland, England, on the River Coquet. It is northwest of Morpeth and of Newcastle upon Tyne. At the 2001 Census, it had a population of 2,107.
Rothbury emerged as an important town be ...
.
[Folk and Roots, , retrieved 15/02/09.]
Contemporary music in Northumbria
There are many artists and acts that have formed in the North East such as the
Lighthouse Family
Lighthouse Family were a British musical duo that rose to prominence in the mid-1990s and initially remained active until the early 2000s. Singer Tunde Baiyewu and songwriter Paul Tucker formed the act in 1993 in Newcastle upon Tyne, England, a ...
and
Dubstar
Dubstar are an English indie-dance duo,Note: An American indie hip hop artist has released some tracks and video via the Internet under the name "Dubstar", but is not connected to the band in any way. performing songs with hints of Britpop, dre ...
(Newcastle upon Tyne),
Maxïmo Park
Maxïmo Park are an English alternative rock band, formed in 2000 in Newcastle upon Tyne. The band consists of Paul Smith (vocals), Duncan Lloyd (guitar), and Tom English (drums). The band have released seven studio albums: '' A Certain Trigge ...
(Singer from
Billingham
Billingham is a town and civil parish in the Borough of Stockton-on-Tees, County Durham, England. The town is on the north side of the River Tees and is governed by Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council. The settlement had previously formed i ...
, other band members met in
Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to:
*Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England
*Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England
*Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...
)
The Futureheads
The Futureheads are an English post-punk band from Sunderland, formed in 2000. The band consists of Ross Millard (vocals and guitar), David "Jaff" Craig (vocals and bass guitar) and brothers Barry Hyde (vocals and guitar) and Dave Hyde (drums ...
and
Field Music
Field Music are an English rock band from Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, England, that formed in 2004. The band's core consists of brothers David Brewis and Peter Brewis. Andrew Moore was the original keyboard player. Their line-up has at times fe ...
(Sunderland) as well as
China Drum
China Drum are an English punk rock band from Ovingham in Northumberland, England, active initially from 1989 to 2000, playing under the name The Drum beginning in 1999. The group released three moderately successful full-length albums and t ...
(from
Ovingham
Ovingham is a civil parish and village in the Tyne Valley of south Northumberland, England. It lies on the River Tyne east of Hexham with neighbours Prudhoe, Ovington, Wylam and Stocksfield.
The River Tyne provided an obstacle between O ...
). Musicians and singers that were born and raised in the region include Sting,
Bryan Ferry
Bryan Ferry CBE (born 26 September 1945) is an English singer and songwriter. His voice has been described as an "elegant, seductive croon". He also established a distinctive image and sartorial style: according to ''The Independent'', Ferry an ...
,
Dave Stewart,
Mark Knopfler
Mark Freuder Knopfler (born 12 August 1949) is a British singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer. Born in Scotland and raised in England, he was the lead guitarist, singer and songwriter of the rock band Dire Straits. He pursued a s ...
,
Cheryl Tweedy
Cheryl Ann Tweedy (born 30 June 1983) is an English singer and television personality. Born and raised in Newcastle upon Tyne, she rose to fame in late 2002 upon winning a place in Girls Aloud, a girl group created through ITV's '' Popstar ...
,
Andy Taylor of
Duran Duran, AC/DC's
Brian Johnson
Brian Johnson (born 5 October 1947) is an English singer and songwriter. In 1980, after the death of Bon Scott, he became the third lead singer of the Australian rock band AC/DC. He and the rest of the band were inducted into the Rock and Rol ...
,
Neil Tennant
Neil Francis Tennant (born 10 July 1954) is an English musician, singer, songwriter and music journalist, and co-founder of the synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys, which he formed with Chris Lowe in 1981. He was a journalist for ''Smash Hits'', and ...
of
Pet Shop Boys,
Paddy McAloon
Patrick Joseph McAloon (born 7 June 1957) is an English singer-songwriter and a founder of the band Prefab Sprout.
Early life
McAloon was born and grew up in Witton Gilbert in County Durham, England. He was trained to be a Catholic priest bef ...
, and Moloko's
Mark Brydon
Mark Errington Brydon is an English bassist, guitarist, composer, arranger, recording engineer, remix artist and producer best known as a member of the group Moloko.
Previous work
He comes from Sunderland, England, but established himself in ...
.
Notes
Selected recordings
*Ranting and Reeling TSCD 669
*Bonny North Tyne: Northumbrian Country Music (Topic 12TS239)
*Holey Ha'penny 12T283
*Wild Hills o'Wannie – The small pipes of Northumbria 12TS227
External links
FARNE – The Folk Archive Resource North EastThe Northumbrian Pipers' Society
{{Music of the United Kingdom