Music and Tradition in Early Industrial Lancashire, 1780-1840

The industrial revolution and the massive change it wrought in traditional ways of life are clearly reflected in the traditional music of the period, and Roger Elbourne has used material from the weaving towns of Lancashire to study this change. He begins by looking at the social upheaval of the years from 1780 to 1840, and goes on to examine the existing musical tradition in the old handloom weaving communities, before turning to the musical life of the new towns and the picture of a weaver’s life in the ballads. His final chapter ‘The music of the people’, draws wide-ranging sociological conclusions from the preceding material. There are two appendices, one on the famous ‘Larks of Dean’ and one giving sources and texts of broadside ballads.