The year was chequered with holidays, wakes, and fairs ; it was not one dull round of labour. Those who had their frames at home seldom worked more than three days in a week. The maypole, with its pastimes, and the games of single-stick and wrestling, have now disappeared. These were the sports of the ruder part of the peasantry; the artisans, who were more cultivated, had their amusements at home; they were members of the village choir, and on the wake Sunday, every one that had a voice, and could lend a hand with hautboy, bassoon, or flute, repaired to the singing-loft in the church, to …
more >>
The year was chequered with holidays, wakes, and fairs ; it was not one dull round of labour. Those who had their frames at home seldom worked more than three days in a week. The maypole, with its pastimes, and the games of single-stick and wrestling, have now disappeared. These were the sports of the ruder part of the peasantry; the artisans, who were more cultivated, had their amusements at home; they were members of the village choir, and on the wake Sunday, every one that had a voice, and could lend a hand with hautboy, bassoon, or flute, repaired to the singing-loft in the church, to swell with heart and voice the psalm or anthem; the clowns below gaping with mute surprise.
These harmless recreations are for ever gone. The quavering strains of Arnold, Tansur, Knapp, and Bishop, we hear no more. Sapcote, Sheepshead,
and Ratby, were the principal villages in which church music was maintained. At Ratby a family of the Smedleys from Derbyshire attended the wake every year. They were the last of the minstrels in this part of the country, who formed a band of two violins and a bass, playing the trios of Kammel and Lampugnani. These itinerant musicians joined the choir on the wake Sunday, and, with assistants from the neighbouring villages, produced what was called a grand crash, that never failed to fill the church. The music at Sapcote wake was still more respectable, as the choir was supported by an opulent farmer of the name of Smith. He was a tall stout man, with an extraordinary powerful voice, and while singing accompanied himself on the violoncello. His plan was to place the instrument on a chair, standing up to play it, and in a solo would exert himself with a degree of enthusiasm that delighted some, and surprised every one. Sheepshead, a much larger village, continued its church performances to a later period, and under the direction of the rector, Mr. Allsop, and Harry Lester, a stocking-maker, they were conducted with considerable science and ability.
<< less