Old Castles/Advertisements
SHORTLY WILL BE PUBLISHED,
BY THE SAME AUTHOR,
THE MONTHS AND OTHER POEMS.
F. Cap 8vo. Neat Cloth Binding.
Just Published, price 2s.6d., or with Portrait, 2s.6d.
SONGS AND BALLADS
By JOHN JAMES LONSDALE,
Author of "The Ship Boy's Letter," "Robiu's Retxirn," &c.
WITH A BRIEF MEMOIR.
From the ATHENÆUM, December 21st, 1867.
Mr. Lonsdale's songs have not only great merit, but they display the very variety of which he himself was sceptical. His first lay, "Minna," might lay claim even to imagination; nevertheless, for completeness and delicacy of execution, we prefer some of his shorter pieces. Of most of these it may be said that they are the dramatic expressions of emotional ideas. In many cases, however, these songs have the robust interest of story, or that of character and picture. When it is borne in mind that by far the greater portion of these lays were written for music, no small praise must be awarded to the poet, not only for the suitability of his themes to his purpose, but for the picturesqueness and fancy with which he has invested them under difficult conditions.
From the WESTMINSTER REVIEW, January, 1868.
Poetry seems now to flourish more in the north than in the south of England. Not long ago we noticed an admirable collection of Cumberland ballads, containing two songs by Miss Blamire, which are amongst the most beautiful and pathetic in our language. We have now a small volume by a Cumberland poet, which may be put on the same shelf with Kirke White. Like Kirke White's, Mr. Lonsdale's life seems to have been marked by pain and disappointment. Like Kirke White too, he died before his powers were full developed. A delicate pathos and a vein of humour characterize his best pieces.
From the SPECTATOR, January 14th, 1868.
"The Children's Kingdom" is really touching. The picture of the band of children setting out in the morning bright and happy, lingering in the forest at noon, and creeping to their journey's end at midnight with tearful eyes, has a decided charm.
CARLISLE: GEO. COWARD.
LONDON: ROUTLEDGE AND SONS; AND ALL BOOKSELLERS.
The SONGS and BALLADS of CUMBERLAND,
to which are added Dialect and other Poems; with Biographical Sketches, Notes, and Glossary. Edited by Sidney Gilpin. With Portrait of Miss Blamire. Small Crown 8vo. Price 7s.
One of the most interesting collections of poetry which have been lately published is the "Songs and Ballads of Cumberland." How many people know anything of Miss Blamire? Yet she was the author of that most beautiful and pathetic of ballads beginning, "And ye shall walk in silk attire." Every one will, therefore, thank the editor for the conscientous way in which he has issued her pieces, and given us some account of her life. It was she, too, who wrote that other beautiful ballad, M'orthy of Lady Anne Lindsay, "What ails this heart o' mine?" which, in our opinion, is poetry full of truth and tenderness. Indeed, we should be disposed to look upon it as a critical touchstone, and to say that those who did not like it could not possibly appreciate true poetry. . . . We can only advise the reader to buy the book, and we feel sure that he, like ourselves, will be thankful to the editor—Westminster Review.
We like the Cumberland Songs a good deal better than the Lancashire ones which we reviewed a fortnight back. There is more go and more variety in them; the hill-air makes them fresher, and we do not wonder that Mr. Gilpin feels—now he has got "tem put in prent"—
Aw England cannot bang them.
We certainly cannot recollect a better collection. . . While the author of "Joe and the Geologist" lives, we shall rest assured that the Cumberland dialect will be well represented in verse as well as prose, though we suppose he cannot love to describe the roaring scenes at weddings and the like that his predecessors witnessed. . . . The dialect is rich in reduplicated words—in good forms—in old English words; and the volume altogether is one that should find a place on the shelf of every reader of poetry and student of manners, customs, and language.—The Reader.
The truly Cumbrian minstrel towards the close of the last century seems to have approached the Scotch in his pictures of rural courtship, and to have been still greater in his descriptions of weddings, as of some other festivities of a more peculiar character. He had a healthy and robust standard of feminine beauty, and his most riotous mirth was more athletic and less purely alcoholic than that which flourished in Burns's native soil.—The Spectator.
These Cumberland lyrics—till now scattered—are on the whole well worth the pains spent on their collection. In some cases, as in those of Relph and Miss Blamire, there is evidence of real genius for the ballad or the eclogue; and with respect to other writers, if the poetic feeling be less deep, humour and keen observation are displayed in dealing with the people and customs of a district which, in its lingering primitiveness and time-honored traditions, is richer in materials for fancy and character than regions which lie nearer the metropolis.—The Athenæum.
It is seldom that a book compiled on the local principle contains so much good matter as this collection of the "Songs and Ballads of Cumberland." In the pathetic vein. Miss Blamire is a host in herself; and the humorous and "character sketches," as we may call them, by various hands, are more vigorous and picturesque, and less vulgar or coarse, than is at all common in the works of local poets. To some readers the peculiar dialect may be objectionable; but to any one who can read Burns, it need be no stumbling-block to the enjoyment of the varied contents of this elegant and well-arranged volume. . . The biographical and other notes are carefully and well written, judiciously informative, and not too long.—Scotsman.
Cumberland has a goodly store of ballads, the natural off-spring of her hills and lakes, and fells and "forces," a wealth of ballad literature, in fact, whereof the Southron in general knows, we fear, but little. Miss Susanna Blamire is a name of celebrity up North, the poetess of Cumberland; and Robert Anderson and many others hold almost equal repute there. Mr. Sidney Gilpin, himself owning a name which has belonged to more than one Cumberland celebrity, has collected and edited a volume of the dialect-songs and ballads, and other specimens of the minstrelsy of his county, and offers it to the appreciation of the English public. The "Songs and Ballads of Cumberland" ought to be a welcome volume to all who can relish the home-spun simple lauguage of a genuine muse of the hills. There is much true and tender poetry in the book, and much rough, natural vigour.—Morning Star.
Cumberland has found in Mr. Sidney Gilpin an able and zealous champion; and the present collection of her Songs and Ballads, though not, perhaps, absolutely exhaustive, will decidedly extend her poetic fame, and no doubt surprise many even among the students of this peculiar lore.—Church and State Review.
CARLISLE: GEO. COWARD.
LONDON: ROUTLEDGE AND SONS.
MISS BLAMIRE'S SONGS AND POEMS;
together with Songs by her friend Miss Gilpin of Scaleby Castle. With Portrait of Miss Blamire.
F. Cap 8vo. Price 2g. 6d.
ROBERT ANDERSON'S CUMBERLAND
BALLADS. F. Cap 8vo. Price 23.
CARLISLE: GEO. COWARD.
LONDON: GEO. ROUTLEDGE AND SONS.
Preparing for Publication,
TALES AND RHYMES IN THE DIALECTS
OF CUMBERLAND AND ADJACENT DISTRICTS.
By the Author of "Joe and the Geologist." Small Crown 8vo.
A GLOSSARY OF THE WORDS & PHRASES
OF FURNESS, (North Lancashire,) with illustrative quotations, principally from the Old Northern Writers.
By J. P. Morris, F.A.S., Cor. Mem. Anth. Soc. of Paris.
JOE & THE GEOLOGIST & "T'REETS ON'T,"
(being a Supplement to "Joe.") Price Twopence.
BOBBY BANKS' BODDERMENT & DIALECT BALLADS.
By the Author of "Joe and the Geologist." Price Threepence.
RAYSON'S DIALECT POEMS AND BALLADS.
Complete Edition. F. Cap 8vo. Price 1s.
SIEGE O' BROU'TON. Price 1d.
LEBBY BECK DOBBY. Price 1d.
INVASION O' U'STON. Price 1d.
CARLISLE: GEO. COWARD; AND ALL, BOOKSELLERS
IN CUMBERLAND.