Ritson's Bishopric Garland or Durham Minstrel 1792

Bishopric Garland or Durham Minstrel, Edited and published by Joseph Ritson, is a revised and corrected edition of a book on County Durham music, published in 1792.

Ritson's Bishopric Garland or Durham Minstrel 1792

Author	Joseph Ritson
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English
Genre	chapbook
Publisher	Joseph Ritson
Publication date	1792
Media type	Print
Pages	approx 70 pages and 20 works

Details

Bishopric Garland or Durham Minstrel 1792 (or to give it its full title – "The Bishopric Garland or Durham Minstrel being a choice collection of excellent songs relating to the above county – Full of agreeable Variety, and pleasant Mirth. [Edited by the late John Ritson, Esq.] ---Stockton. Printed by R. Christopher . MDCCLXXXIV ---Licensed and entered according to Order. --- A New Edition, corrected. Newcastle: Printed by Hall and Elliot. MDCCXCII”) is a book of Geordie folk song consisting of approximately 70 pages with 20 works, published in 1792.

The original edition was published in 1784, this edition appeared in 1792 in a slightly corrected and expanded form, and a further reprint was published in 1809.[1]

Other books in Ritson's Garland series were The Yorkshire Garland, The Northumberland Garland, and The North-Country Chorister. A compilation of the whole series, entitled The Northern Garland was published in 1810.[2]

The “Garland” series were important, not only as important document in their own right, but as one of the main sources of similar successor publications such as John Bell's Rhymes of Northern Bards and Bruce and Stokoe's Northumbrian Minstrelsy.

A set of original documents are held in The Robinson Library of Newcastle University

The publication

The front cover of the book was as thus :-

THE
BISHOPRIC GARLANDS
OR
DURHAM MINSTREL
BEING A
CHOICE COLLECTION
OF
EXCELLENT SONGS
RELATING TO THE ABOVE COUNTY
Full of agreeable Variety, and pleasant Mirth.
[EDITED BY THE LATE
JOHN RITSON, ESQ.]
– - – - – - -
STOCKTON
PRINTED BY R. CHRISTOPHER.
MDCCLXXXIV
Licensed and entered according to Order
– - – - – - -
A NEW EDITION, CORRECTED.
NEWCASTLE:
PRINTED BY HALL AND ELLIOT.
MDCCXCII

Contents

are as below :-

	title	songwriter	tune	comments	notes	ref
cover	Bishoprick Garland or Durham Minstrel					[3]
	Contents
1	Durham Garland – (The), in four parts				Song I
11	Barnardcastle Tragedy – (The)		Constant Anthony		Song II	[4]
11	The true story of the wheedling servant	John Atkinson
15	Stockton's Commendation (number one) – an old song		Sir John Fenwick's the flower amang them		Song III
18	New Song, in praise of Stockton, for 1764 – (A)	William Sutton			Song IV	[5]
20	Stockton's Commendation (number two) or New way of Stockton's Commendation – (The)	Benjamin Pye L.L.D. Archdeacon of Durham	to the old tune	see Archdeacon of Durham	Song V
23	Stockton's Commendation, A New song				Song VI	[6]
26	Hare-skin – (The)	Geo. Knight, Shoemaker	Have you heard of a frolicsome ditty		Song VII	[7]
30	Limbo	Geo. Knight, Shoemaker	On a time I was great, now little I'm grown		Song VIII
33	Launching of the Strickland – (The)	Geo. Knight, Shoemaker	Robin Hood and the Tanner		Song IX	[8]
35	Hark to Winchester A new song called) or The Yorkshire Volunteer's farewell to the good folks of Stockton		Push about the Jorum		Song X	[9]
35	note of Herbert Stockhore	Herbert Stockhore, the pretend author
39	Sedgefield Frolic – (The)				Song XI	[10]
43	Pleasures of Sunderland – (The)				Song XII	[11]
45	Frolicsome olds Women of Sunderland – (The), or the disappointed young maidens		They'll marry, tho' threescore and ten		Song XIII	[12]
47	New Song made on Alice Marley – (A)			an alewife at ******, near Chester	Song IV (numbered incorrectly)	[13]
47	She had been called Elsie in the original edition	Alice Marley		(meaning Picktree, Chester-le-Street)
49	New Song in praise of the Durham Militia – (A)		The Lillies of France		Song XV	[14]
52	Lass of Cockerton – (The)		Low down in the Broom		Song XVI
54	Rookhope Ryde			A Durham border song, composed 1569 – this song not in the 1st edition	Song XVII	[15]
54	comment on	Rookhope Burn
54	Northumberland betrayed by Douglas	a ballad
55	comment on	Thirwall or Thirlitwall, near Bewcastle-dale
56	Dinner time usually 11:00 in those days	short comment
57	comment on	The two earls of Northumberland and Westmoreland
58	this continued	The two earls and the battle of 1570
58	some dialect	short comment
58	date of St Nicholas' day	short comment
59	comment on	Eastgate
59	comment on	Dry-Rig, Smale-Burns or Hanging-Well
59	the warrior's clothing	short comment
61	a missing line	short comment
64	Lamentation on the death of Sir Robert de Nevill, Lord of Raby, in 1282			this song not in the 1st edition	Song XVIII
64	comment on	Robert de Nevill
64	FINIS

See also

Geordie dialect words
Joseph Ritson
Ritson's Northern Garlands 1810
Ritson's Yorkshire Garland 1809
Ritson's Northumberland Garland or Newcastle Nightingale 1809
Ritson's North-Country Chorister 1809

References

1. Ritson, John (1809). Bishopric Garland or Durham Minstrel 1784. republished by R Triphook, St James' Street, London.
2. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. pp. volume 48-page 329.
3. "Farne archives – Bishoprick Garland or Durham Minstrel".
4. "Farne archives – Barnardcastle Tragedy – (The)".
5. "Farne archives – New Song, in praise of Stockton, for 1764 – (A)".
6. "Farne archives – Stockton's Commendation, A New song".
7. "Farne archives – Hare-skin – (The)".
8. "Farne archives – Launching of the Strickland – (The)".
9. "Farne archives – Hark to Winchester".
10. "Farne archives – Sedgefield Frolic – (The)".
11. "Farne archives – Pleasures of Sunderland – (The)".
12. "Farne archives – Frolicsome olds Women of Sunderland – (The), or the disappointed young maidens".
13. "Farne archives – New Song made on Alice Marley – (A)".
14. "Farne archives – New Song in praise of the Durham Militia – (A)".
15. "Farne archives – Rookhope Ryde".

External links

• Farne archives – front cover
• Allan’s Illustrated Edition of Tyneside songs and readings – page 512
• Google e-book Northern Garland
• Google e-book