The Winders of Wyresdale

The Winder family came from Wyresdale near Lancaster and formed the mainstay of a village band from the late 1700s to the First World War.
Whilst in Scotland and Ireland, the tradition of music for village dances is largely unbroken, In England it virtually died out with the Industrial revolution and the Great War.
Fortunately, the tunebooks that were hand copied by members of the Winder band have come down to us and give access to a body of music as vibrant as that of our Celtic neighbours.
This page is a fairly random and growing collection of bits & bobs relating to Dancing Masters, Village bands and the Winder family in particular.

`The Tunes`

click here to go straight to the music
or browse more background information below....

WYRESDALE

Over Wyresdale is an isolated moorland area with scattered farms and hamlets distributed among vaccaries (cow-pastures dating from the middle ages),
stretching from south-east of Lancastertowards Bowland Forest and the Pennines.
The 1801 Census recorded that in Wyresdale, only 17 per cent of the population were engaged in trade and manufacture, while a third were still involved in agriculture.
The smaller farmers survived through the long-established practice of combining farming with trades such as weaving or hat making. The industrial revolution reached
the area in the 1790s when Dolphinholme worsted mill expanded on a large scale and became one of the first mills in the country to be lit by gas. Its water wheel was
also one of the biggest in the country.
At the time of the earliest Winder manuscript, in the 1790s, transport was on horseback, horse and cart or foot. In 1803, the regular coach service to London by way
of Bolton and Manchester took about 32 hours. The Preston and Lancaster railway opened in 1840, The Lancaster to Carlisle Railway Company was formed in 1846
to link with the Cumbrian coast and across the Pennines to Leeds and York.

The Winder manuscripts were brought to light by Lancaster ex-Morris man and West Gallery singer Alan Nowell. Alan was researching the Greensleeves Dance that
had been collected in Dolphinholme by Cecil Sharp in 1911. Good fortune led him to Bill Winder, grandson of James Winder. As well as his Grandfather’s violin, Bill
had in his possession, several handwritten manuscripts and printed tune books from the same period:
The HSJ Jackson manuscript (1823) contains dance music at one end and church music from the other. They meet in the middle with "Huzzah- goodnight and joy be with you"!
The Edward & James Winder manuscript (1835)
Goulding and Dalmain's collection (of dance tunes) for the year 1826. A printed book , like John Playford's Complete Dancing Master, produced annually from London.
Preston's Collection for the year 1801

There were also books of psalm settings, of great interest to the local West Gallery singers. Some of the books of dance tunes also contained psalm settings

Another related book (mostly a copy of the Edward/James Winder book) came through Mr & Mrs Pearcy in Garstang.
An earlier manuscrpt by John Winder, Dancing Master (1789) contains the tune for the Wyresdale dance under the name "Greensleaves or Kick my A**e"!
This came by way of a cousin of Lancashire singer Bernard Wrigley and is a bit of a mystery. Although the tunes come from similar sources, and the inclusion of Greensleeves
shows its local provenance, this John Winder does not seem to fit in Bill Winders family tree. There are however many unrelated Winder families in the area.
Thanks to Barrow record office for providing handbills for Dances in Lancaster by John Winder (presumably the author of the 1789 manuscript) amongst others.

Winder dance advert

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THE MUSIC

The Winder collection represents the typical repetoire of a Northern village band between the late 1700s and the early 20th century. They mostly comprise tunes to popular
dances such as jigs, slip jigs and reels, There are also hornpipes in 3/2 and 4/4 time, minuets, cotillons, quadrilles and waltzes. Many of the tunes are versions of tunes well
known in Scotland and the borders. There are others known in the Isle of Man, Ireland and Europe as well as English tunes, including some from Playford’s "Complete Dancing
Master" and other contemporary printed tune books such as Preston’s, Aird’s Airs and Goulding and Dalmain’s annual collections.

Preston book cover

"Their music in those days was all in their own manuscript, copied in the evenings after work, and their music-books were home-bound.
It was customary to inscribe jigs, reels, horn-pipes, and ballads in the same book. By beginning it at the other end, the insertions being
continued from front and back till sacred and secular met together in the middle, often with bizarre effect. The words of some of the songs
exhibiting that ancient and broad humour which our grandfathers, and possibly grandmothers, took delight in, and is in these days unquotable".
Thomas Hardy, from the introduction to “Under the Greenwood Tree

Unlike Ireland and Scotland, which have a continuous tradition of playing folk dance tunes, many English tunes have not been played since the end of the 19th century. These
manuscripts give us an idea of the range of music that was popular for dancing, and singing before the age of the gramophone and wireless.
Amongst the usual jigs, reels, marches and hornpipes, are found cottillons, quadrilles, minuets, quicksteps, waltzes and many other dance forms whose origins are to be found
in the ballrooms of Europe rather than the hayloft or barn. Popular tunes spread around the country, often in the form of topical songs sold in taverns and street corners by
Broadside sellers.Local bands also played tunes from popular operas such as the “Beggar’s Opera" "Die Freishutz" and "Bluebeard".

Fashionable dances such as the Cotillon and minuet, originating in Italy, France or Germany were in great demand in the provinces. John Winder the Dancing master advertised
that he learned the latest dances from a Mr Holloway in London. The manuscripts also feature French Schottishes, German Waltzes, Russian and Portuguese dances and Czech
PolkasComposers both locally and in London, Edinburgh and Glasgow also turned out tunes to suit various popular dances and broadside ballads. Well known tunes were often
renamed to give a local link. The “Sailor’s Hornpipe” for instance, beloved of the last night of the “Proms” appears in the manuscripts as the “College Hornpipe” as well as the
more local “Chipping Fair".

Different regions often had their own name for the same tune, perhaps depending on whether it was learned from local musicians or imported by travelling musicians, singers
or dancing masters. Tunes unique to this corner of Lancashire include the"Tarnbrook Rant", "Hark to the Whitendale Hunt" and "Pilling Moss."

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THE DANCING MASTERS

"The last time I met him (Ben Wells) was about twenty years ago in the bar parlour of an inn in the Southern part of the Lake District, where the strains of the fiddle, produced
at my request, caused such excitement that a general and very uproarious dance set in, and was kept up with such energy that, the space being confined, the furniture was seriously
damaged and Ben was at last ejected by the landlady.”
A Mr. Gibson, in 1869 writing about Dancing Master and fiddler Ben Wells

. Dancing masters would have a circuit of towns and villages which they visited in rotation, typically running a course of dance tuition weekly with a big dance at the end of the
season. In their book "Traditional Step Dancing in Lakeland" (EFDSS 1979), Joan and Tom Flett give a vivid picture of the world of the professional dancing master, especially
the Robinson family who, between them worked across the Lakes and North Lancs. Jos Robinson, as a lad worked as a bobbin turner at a mill in Silverdale. He married a Lakeland
girl and settled in the Lakes.
When his first son Stainton was born in 1863, he gave his profession as Dancing Master. Stainton followed in his father’s footsteps as did second son Young Jos. Another brother,
Alf taught at Crossthwaite and eventually moved to Morecambe to run a boarding house and also drove a horse drawn landeau along the promenade. In the winter, he taught
dancing in theLancaster and Morecambe area. Up until 1928, he ran classes in Bentham, Clapham, Settle, Ingleton and Hutton Roof. One of his last classes was at Dolphinholme
which, being cancelled due to poor attendance, led him to pawn his fiddle and retire.

From September to Easter, the dancing masters would hold classes in five or six places, each on a different night of the week, travelling by pony and trap and often staying
overnight. Before classes commenced, they would canvassed the area for pupils. They often had as many as forty, ranging in age from four to fifteen. Classes were from 5.30
to 7.30pm for a term of ten or twelve weeks at 10/6d per session and ended with a Finishing Ball. Classes were held in whatever hall was available, assembly rooms, schoolrooms,
barns, inns or stables. A variety of steps were taught which could be put together to form a complete dance that children would use as a “party piece” such as an exhibition hornpipe,
jig, sword or clog dance. Novelty dances in costume such as “Horse to Newmarket, The Tambourine Dance, Skipping Dance, Irish Jig or Sailors Hornpipe were popular.

They were also taught the figures for popular social dances such as the Quadrille, Cumberland Square eight or various types of Reel. Discipline was kept with the flick of the fiddle
bow to the ear of misbehavers.About a fortnight before the Finishing Ball, pupils were sent home with a printed programme for the event often carrying a poster on the reverse.
The first half of the evening was for children to show off their party pieces whilst the second half was for parents and more seasoned dancers.

The evening would commence with a Grand March led by the two youngest members dressed as King and Queen followed by the other children in pairs. All children that could
afford it wore patent leather shoes and white gloves in addition to splendid home made costumes. The “King and Queen” and their retinue were seated on their thrones and the
festivities could begin. Boys and girls sat on opposite sides of the room. All that could do so performed their hornpipes and took part in a mixed programme of fancy dances,
country dances and ballroom dances.

Towards the end of the evening, the “King and Queen”, knelt in the centre of the floor while the other children danced round them. The audience would usually demand a solo
from the dancing master which he would perform to his own accompaniment on the fiddle. Programmes often stated that “Carriages could be ordered for 12.30 pm”. After the
younger children had gone home, the older children and adults would carry on the dancing until 3 or 4 in the morning.

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Village Band photo

THE VILLAGE BAND

"The zest of these bygone instrumentalists must have been keen, taking them as it did, on foot every Sunday after a toilsome week,
through all weathers, to the church, which often lay at a distance from their homes. They usually received so little in payment for their
performances that their efforts were really a labour of love. In the parish I had in my mind when writing the present tale, the gratuities
received yearly by the musicians at Christmas were somewhat as follows: From the manor-house ten shillings and a supper; from the
vicar ten shillings; from the farmers five shillings each; from each cottage-household one shilling; mounting altogether to not more
than ten shillings a head annually--just enough, as an old executant told me, to pay for their fiddle-strings, repairs, rosin, and music-paper
(which they mostly ruled themselves).

Fiddle-strings, rosin, and music-paper were supplied by a pedlar, who travelled exclusively in such wares from parish to parish, coming to
each village about every six months. He was generally a musician himself, and sometimes a composer, bringing his own new tunes.
Some of these compositions which now lie before me, with their repetitions of lines, half-lines, and half-words, their fugues and their
intermediate symphonies, are good singing still, though they would hardly be admitted into such hymn-books as are popular in the churches of
fashionable society at the present time. One is inclined to regret the displacement of these ecclesiastical bandsmen by an isolated organist or
harmonium player

They should have stuck to strings as we did, and kept out clarinets, and done away with serpents. If you'd thrive in musical religion, stick to
strings, says I."Strings be safe soul-lifters, as far as that do go" said Mr.Spinks."Yet there's worse things than serpents," said Mr. Penny.
"Old things pass away, 'tis true; but a serpent was a good old note: a deep rich note was the serpent." "Clar'nets, however, be bad at all times,"
said Michael Mail.The guests had all assembled, and the party had reached that degree of development which accords with ten o'clock P.M.
in rural assemblies. At that hour the sound of a fiddle in process of tuning was heard from the inner pantry. "That's Dick," said the tranter.
"That lad's crazy for a jig."

"Dick! Now I cannot have any dancing at all till Christmas-day is out," said old William emphatically. "When the clock ha' done striking twelve,
dance as much as ye like."It happened that some warm mead accidentally got into Mr. Spinks's head about this time. "Dancing," he said, "is a most
strengthening, livening, and courting movement, 'specially with a little beverage added!At five minutes to twelve the soft tuning was again heard in
the back quarters; and when at length the clock had whizzed forth the last stroke,

Dick appeared ready primed, and the instruments were boldly handled; old William very readily taking the bass-viol from its accustomed nail,
and touching the strings as irreligiously as could be desired. The country-dance called the 'Triumph, or Follow my Lover,' was the figure with
which they opened.
(From Thomas Hardy's "Under the greenwood tree" )

Old drawing of dancers

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Many villages had bands which played for church and village dances. Typically several fiddles, perhaps a clarinet and a cornet or trombone (often played by ex- soldiers),
perhaps a cello or double bass. They would play for weddings, seasonal festivals.. Maypole, harvest home, Christmas dance, Whitsun fair.

Music written in manuscripts, now being recognised as historically important.

Excerpts from the Lancaster Gazette 1803

Parisian style of dancing- Mssrs Winder and Son at The Assembly RoomsNB. Schools, Quadrille parties and private families attended in town and country.

15 oct 1803 John Winder, dancing master married Miss Todd, mantua maker, both of Lancaster. (A mantua was a type of women’s gown)

April 4th 1803 DANCING

Messrs Winder & Ogden most respectfully inform the Ladies and Gentlemen of Lancaster and its vicinity, That they intend opening their school in the Assembly Room,
on Monday the 18th inst at which time they humbly solicit their patronage. Messrs. W. & O. have lately been in London under the instruction of Mons. Gallina, Jenkins
and Messrs Wills and have aquired some of the newest Scotch, Irish and Italian steps, as now taught in the first circles.

Similarly, Mr La Glace, lately returned from London and Paris, and having opened his school in Preston for 12 weeks, intended to open a school in Lancaster to
teach the most fashionable dances “in a style far superior to those presented by other masters”.

A Mr McGregor from Edinburgh ran a school in St Leonardgate.His terms were: 10 shillings entrance and £1 1s. for six four days weeks,
10am – 1pm and 3-5pm. He offered Scotch Reels, Strathspeys and Waltz steps. Plays at the theatre were often combined with demonstration dances,
On October 15th, a Mr Saxoni, celebrated rope dancer performed a hornpipe on the tight rope at the Theatre Royal as well as wooden shoe and tambourine dances.
The evening finished with indoor fireworks. Mr Saxoni had been very popular and performed at the Theatre Royal several times.

On Monday next, November 7th, 1803, will be presented, The new musical drama of PAUL & VIRGINIA

At the end of the play, Mr Saxoni will again exhibit various astonishing feats on the tight rope; In particular his wooden shoe and tambourine dances; with leaps over a
Garter: also the Manual and Platoon Exercises; and a variety of novelties with table, chair, hoop, violin etc, etc and the whimsical Dance with 2 boys tied to his feet.
Incidental to the piece, an Indian procession and Festival; and a Double Hornpipe by Mr Degville and Miss Stordy.The whole to finish with a magnificent display of
FIRE-WORKSOn six divisions, prepared by Mr Saxoni, for this occasion. The above mentioned Fire-Works are so perfectly innocent as not to give the least offence.

Winder and Son were still operating as dancing masters in 1831:

THEATRE ROYAL, LANCASTER
Winder and Son’s
JUVENILE BALL
On Monday 12th September, 1831,
When will be introduced the most
FASHIONABLE DANCES OF THE DAY.
Dancing to commence at Half-past 6 o’clock.
Boxes 3s - Pit 2s – Gallery 1s.
A Dance After the Ball.

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THE GREENSLEEVES DANCE

For details, see Alan Nowell's website about the dance: http://www.timedance.co.uk

The dance was performed for Cecil Sharp in 1911 by three men, the leader being James Winder, the music being provided by his father. Sharp copied the version of
“Greensleeves” from a hand written manuscript, probably Edward/James Winders tunebook of 1835 in the possession of Mr & Mrs Pearcy of Garstang. The following
is an extract of various interviews by the Fletts about the Wyresdale Dance:

Interview with Mr & Mrs Tom Pearcy, Cow House, Over-Wyresdale. Age 64 & 59 3/4/1960

Mr Pearcy’s wife’s uncle was James Winder (now dead), one of the dancers named by Cecil Sharp. He was a fiddler as was also his brother – Mrs Pearcy’s father,
and their father, Mrs Pearcy’s Grandfather. Mrs Pearcy still has her grandfather’s music MS from which Sharp copied the Greensleeves tune. Apparantly, the old man
( the Grandfather) had a dance band which occasionally played for local dances. (It is interesting to note that he played the cello in a string band which played for the
church service in Wyresdale church before the organ was installed there.) The other people who performed the dance for Sharp were John Winder, Bartle Doddin,
Dave Brown, all now dead.

When Mr Pearcy began to go to dances in Wyresdale ( c 1913), the programme usually started with a waltz, then followed a Barn Dance, and a set of the Lancers.
Other dances in use were the Quadrilles, Waltz-Cottillon, Polka, Varsoviana, Schottische, Military 2 step, Veleta, Highland Schottische, Cottagers, and on odd occasions,
Sir Roger De Coverley.

In Over-Wyresdale the dances were held in Abbeystead School - about 3 in the winter – and also in a “Corporation hut” there. My Pearcy was often MC at these dances.
Wedding celebrations were usually held in the farms. The supper was held in the house and dancing took place in the hay loft while supper was going on, for people went
in to supper in relays. Someone would come over to call so many couples over to supper in the house.Mr Pearcy told me that in general, older people did not dance at these
weddings. People of the same generation as the Bride’s parents didn’t dance much. The Bride’s parents had there cronies in for “ a bit of cardin’” in the house whilst the
young folk danced in the hayloft.

Wyresdale greensleeves dance pic

Interview with Mrs David Brown, Crosshill Smithy, Nether Wyresdale, aged 79   31/3/60
Her husband (now dead) took part in the Greensleeves dance.. I asked Mrs Brown particularly about this dance. She told me that it was not danced much in her time, and
when it was done, it was usually done by the same people, James & John Winder and Bartle Doddin. (James W & Bartle Doddin were the dancers named by Cecil Sharp.
John Winder was brother of James and died only a month ago). “They would do it, these certain people, more or less just to let people see it”. It was danced more at
social events than at dances.

Favorite local dances included Quadrilles, Varsoviana, Circassian Circle, Cottagers and the Highland Fling. They generally used the Cottagers as a finishing dance.
The Highland fling was a couple dance. Harvest Home was a general gathering in the village hall, first a tea, then a dance.

Interview with Mr & Mrs Tom Pearcy, Cow House, Over-Wyresdale. Age 64 & 59    3/4/1960

Mrs Pearcy’s Father, Edward Winder was one of 5 brothers, the others being James, John, Richard & Tom, all now dead. James & John danced for Cecil Sharp. Edward Winder’s
father was James Winder of Greenbank (Knowsley Farm), Over Wyresdale. The MSS were written c 1830 by an Edward Winder of Greenbank, who was presumably father of
James Winder (i.e. Mrs Pearcy’s Great-Grandfather). The MSS mentions a John Winder dancing master, presumably Edward Winder’s brother (unconfirmed).
It is a family tradition that Edward & John were brought up at Wyre Home Farm. Mrs Pearcy’s father told her of John Winder the dancing master-He lived in Garstang, in a
white cottage (opposite the Ribble bus station). They do not know wgether he was a full time teacher or travelled around the area. Although married, he had no family.

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Interview with Mr Dick Winder, 4 West View,Hollins Lane, Forton. Age 69    9/4/1960
Brought up at Swainshead Hall in Wyresdale. His father was a cousin of Mrs Pearcy’s father
Mr Winder danced Greensleeves (not the “Greensleeves Dance”) quite often with Bartle Dodding and John Winder, and also with one of these and Septimus Brindle
It was not infrequent for someone to ask to see it at some gathering, and he was usually called in as one of the 3 dancers.It was “a bit on the rough side”. It was most
often done at weddings and parties, but occasionally done at dances. My Winder last performed it 20 or 30 years ago, but I am pretty certain he could still do it.
The following is I think a very reliable description of the dance as he performed it.

Figure 1. 3 men join hands in a ring and circle left and back with slow gallop step.

Figure 2. circle left- each man in turn raises right leg over his right hand and his right hand neighbour’s left hand. The number of legs on which they are supported reduced
to 3 as they go round, each man hopping. They stop then repeat in the opposite direction, raising left legs.

Figure 3. They now release hands and begin to walk around clockwise. Then the 1st man, whilst still moving round, claps his hands together, slaps his right wnee with his
R hand, then slaps the man on his left on the back with the flkat of his L hand. Then he “punches his behind with his R knee. The 2nd & 3rd men do this in turn, still
circling clockwise. They then reverse the direction and perform these movements contrariwise.

The order in which these operations are performed ( who goes 1st, 2nd & 3rd) is decided on the spot. Mr Winder also knew a brush dance. When he was a lad at home
in Wyresdale, they had dancing classes in the granary on the farm. They had a chap to play the concertina and all the youngsters of the neighbourhood gathered there.
There were no formal lessons but the older ones used to teach the younger ones to dance. Someone there taught him how to do the Brush Dance.
Done with a broom, handle in hand, head on floor. The handle is passed from right to left hand,under the right leg, with a hop on the left foot. Then put R foot down
& lift L foot. Then pass broom back from L hand to right under L leg, with a hop on R foot. This is continued ad lib, the music speeding up gradually. Sometimes,
someone would pick up the head of the broom and both would continue dancing over the handle.br> Mrs Pearcy’s mother could do “clog dancing. Mr Winder once
saw her dance on top of a “Dolly tub” at a wedding. The steps were of the hornpipe type,with beating.

Interview with Mr & Mrs Tom Pearcy, Cow House, Over-Wyresdale. 1/7/1960
We called to return their MSS. I asked one or two further questions about the family:
Mrs Pearcy’s father was born in 1872. The last of his generation of the family is Mrs Parkinson who lives in Singleton. Her address can be found from Mrs Cross
of Dolphinholme Bottom. Wyre House became a farm, & the Winders had this at some time. It is now part of Wellbrook Farm

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Interview with Septimus Brindle, Wham’s Lane, Bay Horse aged 71
Dick Winder had told me that Mr Brindle was one of the people who used to dance the Wyresdale Greensleeves and we went to see him. We asked him particularly about
Greensleeves and he gave me a demonstration of it.

Figure 1 The 3 dancers join hands in a ring, facing inwards, They circle right with 4 slow slip-steps. (Mr Brindle used the term Chassee) then circle back to the left.
Then forward into the centre, back out again then in & out again.

Figure 2 The 3 dancers stand still with hands joined and held low. Each of men in turn lift their R leg over his own R hand (& R hand neighbours L hand) and they
all hop round, 3 hops to the R and 3 to the L. They release hands and lower their legs and repeat the figure with Left legs over, hopping first
L then R.

Figure 3 For this figure there was an appropriate verse:

Hey up & about she went
Hey up & about she went
Heyup & about she went
By God she did at Haymow

The dancers faced anticlockwise in the circle. The no 1 man claps his hands together (On “Hey”), slaps his R hand on R thigh (on “Up”), lifting his leg up for this..
He then claps the next man round on the back with R hand (on “about”), and then kicks him on the seat with the side of his foot (on “went”)soon as no 2 man is
kicked, he jumps clockwise halfway round on the spot to face No 1 man and glares at him. The music pauses slightly for this jump. On the music starting again,
No 2 man completes his turn, making 3 jumps in all and clapping on the “Hey” on the turn. No2 man repeats the whole movement with no 3 and no 3 with no
1 men. On the final kick, all 3 men turn clockwise on the spot with 3 jumps:
(“By GOD she DID at HAY mow”). This whole sequence is then repeated in the opposite direction.

In Mr Brindles younger days it was danced quite often usually by the older men, very occasionally at Dolphinholme, but more regularly in the farmhouses up on
the fells in Wyresdale and up at Abbeystead. It was usually done at local weddings. It was done regularly at a dance which was held at Abbeysteaf School following
the Abbeystead Field Day, a local sports meeting. Another place it was performed was in an old corporation hut which was built for navvies cleaning the reservoir.
After the navvies left, locals used the hut as a dance hall and reading room. At the field day dance and other bigger functions, there may be 2 or 3 sets of 3 dancers
on the floor for it. Mr Brindle had never seen it done out of doors. He had no idea of its origins.
It is worth noting that the dance was performed by some of the more substantial men of the community. Mr Brindle himself owns a garage and haulage business.
He can also remember it being done by John Dodding, a local farmer (son of Bartle?) & Jim Lambert, the estate man for Lentworth Hall.
The other dances done in Wyresdale in his younger days included the swinging 6, Square 8 and a 3 reel. ( the older people did these) and also the Cottagers
There was a lot of step dancing in the old days- either in clogs or in ordinary shoes. His mother was very good at it and did it in slippers.

Goodnight and God be with you

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The
TunesABC
files

The Winders of Wyresdale
 my original selection
John Winder
Dancing Master's book 1789
HS
Jackson book 1823
Edward/James
Winder's book 1835
Various tunes from
Lancaster and the Lakes






PDF file

Winders Book.PDF

The dots for my original selection of Winder tunes

Midi files
Winder tunes.zip

Midi Files
 midi files can be played through most music players and opened in
score writing software (eg. Sibelius, Noteworthy etc )to give printable
music
Open with "winzip" (available here). contains individual zip folders of tune types 