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Notes & Queries Index Archive 2000 Archive 2001 Archive 2002 Archive 2003-4 Archive 2005 Archive 2006 Archive 2007
Please send replies to queries to The Waits Website for forwarding and publication. ( for email)
Edward Blankes Boston Waits Colchester Waits Counterpoint, Radio 4 Coventry Waits Thomas Crawshaw Ely Waits Gunnar Gunn
Sir Richard Hawkins Leeds Silver Anniversary City of Lincoln Waites City of London Waits Loud Wind Workshop Minstrels' Court Misconception
Music of the Waits New old Waits Peyps and the King's Trumpets Re-established waits Stadtpfeifer Waits Workshop whifflers York Music York Waits
Chris,
In "REED - Gloucestershire, Cumberland and Westmorland", on page 28, among the waits listed as appearing in the Carlisle, Naworth and Lowther accounts are the following eleven or twelve groups not currently included in the "Where Waits?" page:
Appleby, Askrigg, Barnard Castle, Bradford, Keswick, Kirkby Lonsdale, Kirkby Stephen, Kirkby Thore, Knaresborough, Middleham (is this "Midlam" in the present list?), Millom and Orton. Could some of these have been castle waits rather than borough waits?
Alan Radford
Impressive! Middleham probably is Midlam, or Millom is Midlam, I suppose(?!). As to Castle Waits, what date are we talking? Any clues? Although we still haven't nailed this point, I get the feeling that Castle and Town Waits didn't co-exist, so broadly speaking, if they're 15th century or later they're most likely Town Waits, I'd say.
Chris.
Chris,
These accounts are late 16th and early 17th centuries. Actual payment dates in accounts for some of the waits are:
Orton 1634-35
Barnard Castle 1618-19
Knaresborough 1613-14 and 1614-15
Bradford 1634-35
Middleham may be Midlam, but Millom is a small town north of Barrow-in-Furness.
Alan
Thanks,
Then I'm happy calling them Town Waits, unless Richard wants to add a rider to that?
Chris.
Agreed: I don't think we have a sensible alternative at present.
Richard Rastall
Chris,
Barbara Palmer (2005) Shakespeare Quarterly 56: 259-305 cites several previously unrecognised groups of waits:
Waits of Pocklington, Ellerton and Malton playing at Londesborough
Waits of Stony Stratford, Dunstable and St Albans playing for the Cavendishes on journeys between Hardwick and London.
Six new groups brings the count up to 150.
Alan
Inspired by this morning’s discoveries in Barbara’s article, I’ve done a systematic search through the more recent REED volumes. Below, by volume, are the latest re-discoveries.
DORSET/CORNWALL
Bodmin 1503-4, 1519-20
KENT (CANTERBURY)
Calais 1539-40, 1540-41
Faversham 1561-62, 1572-73
Hertford/Harford 1538-39, 1539-40, 1540-41
Lydd 1517-18
New Romney 1527-28
COVENTRY
Newcastle-under-Lyme 1639, 1640, 1642
Southam ? 1616
HEREFORD & WORCS
Bewdley
SOMERSET
Wells 1600
SHROPSHIRE
Bridgnorth 1551-2
Ludlow 1614-15, 1615-16
The above all specifically identify “waits of town X”; I have omitted any that merely refer to “musicians of town X”.
I think that now makes 162!
Alan
p.s. There’s a Southam about 10 miles south of Coventry, so that makes geographical sense.
Chris,
Now we're up to 162 towns with waits, I can't think of any more obvious sources, apart from going round to individual archives (until more REED county volumes are published), so the number will probably stick at 162 for some time yet.
I'm still surprised that, with even some little villages having waits, my home town of Chelmsford, the county town of Essex, had none. In 1562, they even imported the Bristol Waits for a major pageant! They just don't seem to have been too common in Essex, as the list only contains Colchester and Hadleigh.
Maybe I'll visit the Essex Records Office next time I'm down that way and check.
Regards,
Alan
Hello Alan,
Lizzie and I spent a very profitless day in the Essex archives, when she was hoping to find an alternative to Colchester Waits, in spite of the enthusiastic help of a very interested chief archivist. Town records for Essex in general seem sparse, and Colchester is the only one they have recorded as having Waits. Never mind Chelmsford, I was expecting to find something for Maldon as it was such an important port in its day. The best thing of the day was finding William Byrd's (Elizabeth I's composer, not the beligerent Cambridge Wait of the same name) signature on a legal document.
Not to say that you might not turn up something new!
Chris.
Byrd spent a lot of time sheltering at Ingatestone Hall under Petre's protection. It's well worth a visit.
Yes, I'm surprised about Maldon too - one of the later Cinque Ports. Come to think of it, is the Hadleigh in James' list the Essex one or the Suffolk one?
Alan
I hope the inclusion of Calais as a “British” town with waits doesn’t cause a diplomatic incident. It was at the time English, only falling to the French a few years later in the reign of Mary.
Alan
This is interesting. Waits weren't the only musicians expecting payment for waking people up at Christmas:
Samuel Pepys' Diary
27 December 1666 Up, and called up by the King's Trumpets, which cost me 10s.
Chris.
More on Pepys
Dear Chris,
There would have been good precedent for this 200 years earlier: perhaps
there was an unbroken tradition through Charles II's exile in Paris?
Assuming that the king's trumpeters were on their way to wake the king, or on their way back, where was Pepys sleeping, and where was the king?
As ever, Richard Rastall.
Pepys was at home, at the Navy Office (near the Tower) and the King was at Whitehall. Many royal servants, especially musicians, had been without pay for months if not years at this time, which I suspect explains them busking!
Chris.
Not bad payment, either, though there can't have been too many people with 10/- to spare for an alarm call!
3 trumpeters at 3/4d each? 6 at 1/8d? Just possibly 4 at 2/6d?
Richard
I don't think this fella is mentioned on the Waits Website...? 6 pieces of his music are included in this: Early Music Library number 83, London Pro Musica (Bernard Thomas), EML183 (6 fantasies for 3 instruments). This music was spotted by a friend of mine - Mr Chris Barlow.
Al Garrod
He wrote sacred music too, if it's the same bloke. He's mentioned in Woodfill (and NB a mention on p. 45 that isn't in the Index).
I've just been looking at Robert Tailour's Sacred Hymns (1615) on EEBO. One doesn't think of Waits as writing sacred music, but some of them obviously did (again, if it's the same man). Remembering James Hewitt in Coventry, mid-16th cent., I wonder if any London Waits helped out at parish churches with the singing of the psalms?
In haste,
As ever,
Richard Rastall
Cor. Missed this one!
TYW used to play something we knew only by the name 'Blankes' yonks ago but I don't think we cottoned on to his having been a wait or we'd have paid him a lot more attention. Maybe we used this LPM edition but none of us read the commentary.
A good find to add to the collection.
A quick Google brought this recording up. http://www.prestoclassical.co.uk/c/Blankes/all/1
I have it. It's very, very good (if there weren't so many, this would be one of my desert island eight) and includes a Blankes fantasy.
James Merryweather
According to Woodfill's "Musicians in English Society", Edward Blanq aka Blanck served as a London Wait from 1582 to 1594, replacing John Baker (1569-82), and being in turn replaced by William Pryne (1594-1613). Both spellings of his name suggest that, if not himself an immigrant, he had continental ancestry. His work as a composer is, according to Woodfill, "conjectural".
Blanq is not mentioned in Crewdson's "Apollo's Swan and Lyre", his history of The Musicians' Company of London.
Alan Radford.
Having visited the Waits Website for quite some time now, I’d like to share with you some of my research efforts in the area of Germany’s Stadtpfeifer. Of particular interest would be my article published in Cross Accent (Spring 2003, pp27-38), the Journal of the Association of Lutheran Church Musicians, titled “Hora decima: The Musical Theology of the Stadtpfeifer.” This article explored the repertoire of the Stadtpfeifer and its socio-religious background. Another article, published in the Galpin Society Journal (April 2000, pp.51-59) titled “‘Of the Differences between Trumpeters and City Tower Musicians,’ The Relationship of Stadtpfeifer and Kameradschaft Trumpeters,” explored aspects of the instrumentation associated with the Stadtpfeifer. Portions of these articles are incorporated into a monograph I am currently preparing titled Germany’s Stadtpfeifer From the Reformation to the End of the Baroque.
All the best,
Timothy Collins
Cleveland, Ohio
Yesterday evening, Richard Rastall raised with me the question of when our various groups were revived. I've checked websites this morning for dates of re-establishment (establishment in the case of Ely and even re-re-establishment for Colchester) and came up with the following:
Canterbury 1970
Colchester 1973/2007
York 1978
Leeds 1983
's-Hertogenbosch 1984
Norwich 1986
Doncaster 1992
Kings's Lynn 1999
Oxford 2000
Winchester 2002
Gloucester 2006
Lincoln 2007
Ely 2008
Regards,
Alan Radford
To the best of our memory we adopted the name Doncaster Waits in 1992,
though we were playing together as a group called Sirius for many years
before that.
Roger Offord, Doncaster Waits
Following the success of their workshop last year, Lizzie Gutteridge's new Colchester Waits Shawm Band is holding another Loud Winds Workshop - this time for people who already play Renaissance Loud Winds - on Sunday 21st September. It will be an all-day workshop, starting at 11am, followed by a public concert by the combined Colchester and King's Lynn Waits at 7.30pm, and will be held at the Headgate Theatre, Colchester. More details will follow soon. If you're interested in attending, contact Lizzie at lizzie@elizabethgutteridge.co.uk or on either 01206 212466 or 07762 015645.
Chris.
I've organised a loud wind day with Tim Bailey on 7 June. It will be at Kelmscott Manor, near Lechlade (between Swindon and Burford). Is it possible for you to send out information to other waits groups to let them know about this? I'd like to increase numbers somewhat. Anyone interested should contact me by phone 01242 579016 (not by e-mail - my set-up disallows any incoming mail unless I know the sender's address already).
Thanks
Simon Pickard, Gloucester Waits.
Hi Chris!
I collected our liveries from Sally & Henry Green this week. We are having embroidered insignia which is being manufactured. We have the last rehearsal today before we inflict ourselves upon the good burghers of Ely.
Although our official launch is on Eel Day - 3rd. May, we are actually playing for the first time next Sunday 27th. April, outside the Lady Chapel at the Cathedral, as people arrive for a reception and Charity Auction, prior to a charity screening of "The Other Boleyn Girl". A hundred years before our target year, but who cares!
I really can't believe that this is all actually happening , considering I only had the idea last May, so its all happened in less than a year - less if you consider that the money for the instruments was not forthcoming until 22nd. November, so that's only 6 months to learn new instruments and be able to perform on them.
I will very shortly be organising a Website which will be full of pictures. We are fortunate to have a lad in the village who is a very good photographer and he is going to photograph all the things we do.
I attach a list of what we are up to in case you are interested.
Many thanks to you and others of the Guild for all the help and encouragement I have received in setting this up.
Regards,
Tony Pearson
SUNDAY APRIL 27TH. Reception in Lady Chapel Prior to Charity Screening of "The Other Boleyn Girl"
SATURDAY MAY 3RD. Eel Day approx. 10.am. till 12.noon.
MONDAY 12TH. MAY Mayor Making. We play from 7.00.pm. - 7.30.pm. outside the door as people arrive, then inside and -play a Fanfare when the Town Crier welcomes the new Mayor.
MONDAY 26th. MAY Re-launch of Oliver Cromwell's House in Ely. We will play late afternoon outside the front door. probably on and off between 3 & 4 pm.
SATURDAY 20TH. JUNE Waits' Supper in Almonry Restaurant.
SUNDAY 21ST. JUNE am. St. Etheldreader Procession.
Congratulations to our latest recruits, the Waits of Ely. Welcome to
our fraternity, the Guild of Town Pipers. It was only a few months ago
that Tony had the idea of forming a group, and here they are, out there
on the streets, performing with proper instruments and kit! And unlike
most of us, they are fortunate in knowing their original year of
foundation - 2008 :-) The down side is, I suppose, that there is no
fascinating history to research in dusty archives.
Alan Radford
Nice pictures of our newbies from Ely in their authentic-looking kit.
That's Gloucester in 2006, Lincoln in 2007 and Ely in 2008. Who will be
next? Alan
Not forgetting the new Colchester Waits Shawm Band in 2007 as well! Chris.
You mean the revived, revived Colchester Waits! That's three lives used, only six more to go. Alan.
Are we the first town ever to boast two concurrent bands of "Waits"?.... The previous incarnation still exists, it's just they never got as far as playing the shawms etc. Lizzie Gutteridge, Colchester Waits
Chris,
This is a significant month for the Leeds Waits. On April 30th 1983 we
gave our first public performance, so in April 2008 it's the Silver
Jubilee of our recreation. It was a performance with the Capriol
Historical Dance Group at the waggon staging of the Chester Mystery
Plays on the University of Leeds campus. We still play from time to
time for some of the same dancers.
Alan Radford
Well-timed reminder, Al! Many congratulations, and many happy returns of the occasion, to the Leeds Waits. There ought to be photographs of the Chester Cycle with the Leeds Waits in, and if so it would be good to look them out.
The Leeds Waits pages on the Waits website make it clear that the Leeds Waits started in 1983, but there's no specific statement about the quarter-century. Perhaps Chris would put a Silver Anniversary message on the home page? - not just to give the Leeds Waits a puff, but to confirm the strength, stability and continuity of the waits movement in the late 20th century and beyond.
This evening I shall raise a glass to your next 25 years!
As ever,
Richard Rastall.
Dear Roger and Andrea
Thanks for all the organisation for the workshop, which was a real pleasure to direct. I feel standards are rising and we are producing sounds that would have been unimaginable a few years ago. Strong showing from you Doncaster Waits. Keep up the good work. Looking forward to attempting a similar standard in June.
Best Wishes
Tim Bayley
Dear Tim,
Many thanks for your kind words and on behalf of the guild and those who attended, I would like to thank you for making the event such a resounding success. I should of course also include William in my thanks whose contribution did not go unnoticed.
We have all received messages from those who came expressing how much they enjoyed the event and there is no doubt that there will be a demand for another one sometime in the future. Attached is a photograph which perhaps sums up the day!
I must however correct you on one point, it was Alan Radford's idea to run the workshop and he in fact carried out the bulk of the organisation. I just found the venue.
I would also like to thank you for volunteering to lead the Big blow at Lincoln, at present we have had signs of interest from about 40 musicians from 7 bands including York. The blow is intended to last around half an hour from 12.15 to 12.45 on Sunday the 29th and will take place in Castle Square in front of the Exchequer gate. If wet we will use the adjacent church, I believe we are expecting the mayor of Lincoln to attend. Your idea of having a few pieces we could all play on the procession on Friday is also a good idea and we would be grateful for your ideas on music as soon as possible so that we can distribute them to those concerned.
We did record the last spot on Saturday how ever on listening to the "unimaginable" sound, we perhaps think that memory is the best record!
Best wishes
Roger and Andrea and all those involved on Saturday.
Report and photos of the workshop
Dear Chris,
I'm writing to let you know of an event taking place on Saturday 21st June at St John the Baptist Church in Chester, (the church near the Roman amphitheatre). From 11am to 4pm there will be a celebration of the old tradition of the Chester Minstrels' Court, in which all those wishing to perform music in the county of Chester had to obtain a licence each midsummer at St John's Church. The earliest record of the court is from 1477 and it continued into the 18th century. However there is a traditional origin of the Court which, if it is to be believed, would push the date back for the first minstrel's court in Chester to the early 13th century. This derives from a story told that the Earl of Chester, Ranulf Blundeville, was besieged by the Welsh in Rhuddlan Castle. A request for help was received by the Constable of Chester, but few soldiers could be gathered to assist the relieving of the siege. It happened to be the time of the Chester Midsummer Show and so players and musicians were instead rounded up and led off into Wales. As they approached Rhuddlan their noise so terrified the Welsh that they fled and thus the siege was relieved! In memory and gratitude of this musicians and players were given a year licence to perform in the county each midsummer.
The event running on the 21st June 2008 will include recitals of medieval music by Richard York which are open to everyone to join in. There will also be storytelling, dancing, mummers' plays and even a dancing bear, (no harm to real bears - just a very lifelike costume!). Some street theatre from the 2008 Chester Mystery Plays will also be happening and during the afternoon the annual recreation of the Chester Midsummer Watch Parade will also be passing through the city with some of those involved in the parade ending up at the Church for the Minstrels' Court event.
Local museums, community groups and the church are all working together on this project and we are inviting any musicians with instruments of the 15th-17th centuries to come along and join in if they wish. This is, we think, the first time the Minstrels' Court has been recreated in modern times and we hope that it will be the first of many, perhaps even leading to the re-establishment of the Chester Waits.
I will let you know of further details as they become known. As several groups are involved, there is perhaps no one website to refer people to for all the information. However I will endeavour to make details known on my website www.pilgrimsandposies.co.uk as the event approaches.
With best wishes
Tom Hughes
Monday 31 March 2008, 1.30 pm (repeated the following Sunday at 11 pm)
I can divulge that the result wasn't shameful and I won't mind if word gets round.
James Merryweather
Listen again
Amendments and new information added to the following pages of the Lincoln Waites website -
http://www.lincolnwaites.org.uk/waitschain.shtml
http://www.lincolnwaites.org.uk/livery.shtml
http://www.lincolnwaites.org.uk/drummer.shtml
http://www.lincolnwaites.org.uk/1600_1699.shtml
http://www.lincolnwaites.org.uk/sirthomaswhite.shtml
Regards, Al Garrod.
Dear Al and All,
As usual when Al sends out notification of expansion it's a lot to take in, but I've been back for a butcher's at the Lincoln waits. It's very easy to visit a website in its early days and then assume it will look after itself as far as you're concerned. I'm pleased I visit this one from time to time as well as today.
It's worth saying that this is one of the best websites I've seen and, since it's about my subject, therefore, the best there is (apart, of course, from www.waits.org.uk; but then I'm biased and likely to incur the wrath of my co-host if I wax over enthusiastic). The colour scheme and design are excellent, and navigation simple, practicable and fun. It's already pretty comprehensive and, knowing the way it's been building up, will become even more so by stages.
I need not comment on the expansiveness and quality of what lies beyond the 'Research' button, though the word 'comprehensive' springs readily to mind.
I feel it would be wonderful to sit down and do likewise for York but the very idea brings on a severe attack of weariness.
Will http://www.lincolnwaites.org.uk/ (with N.B. its little arms of Lincoln at the start of the status line - can we do something like that, Chris?) remain the sole exemplar or will somebody in another town take on the next challenge? It's what waits history needs.
Somewhere on the waits website we have Columba's exploration of words cognate with waits. It includes GAUNTLET which, I would say, Al has placed decisively in the 'down' position!
James Merryweather
I'm writing to you to let you know that my beloved father, Gunnar Gunn, passed away here on the 14th of February. Gunnar Gunn from Norway was the "Vekter of Trondhjem", among many other watchmans / waits' assignments, such as e.g. at Baerums Vaerk. He was born 12.07.1926 and became 81 years old.
I know you have been in contact with him several times, and that he visited you in York sometime in the 90's I think.
He talked about you and the York Waits several times, and was very proud and cherished deeply the connection and relation to you.
He has been struggling for some years with a very bad hip, which though didn't stop him working as "Vekter" and generously singing out with his beautiful voice until he had passed 80. He loved this work in all its aspects!
The last year he has been often very ill, and especially since Christmas, but the doctors didn't know what was wrong. Here, almost 4
weeks ago they found out that it was liver cancer. I have been with him almost every day since we was told about the
cancer, and both me and my brother was there, holding his hand when he took his last breath.
The funeral will be on Friday the 22nd at 12 o'clock at Tanum Kirke (Tanum Church), Nedre Ås vei 36, 1341 Slependen, Norway (I think this
is the adress).
Yours sincerely
Ingrid Skovgaard
Gunnar Gunns daughter
For more on Gunnar Gunn, visit here.
Dear David,
Many thanks for the cartoon which I have put on the Waits Website. Speaking of Whistlers and Waits, I was recently directed towards these curious characters - http://www.freewebs.com/norwichwhifflers/. I see that at least one of them is a Morris Dancer. Maybe you've already come across them?
All the best, Chris.
Dear Chris,
I'm glad that the Punch cartoon was of more than passing interest.
I was aware that some years ago Kemp's Men Of Norwich had persuaded The Lord Mayor of Norwich to let them revive the ancient posts of Whifflers. I'm pleased to see that "Snap" (Norwich's ancient ceremonial dragon) has also been revived. Their costume are based on the Tudor-style outfits which earlier "revival whifflers" had worn in the Norwich Guild processions in the 1830s. I suspect that Kemp's Men (or the Lord Mayor's office) went to a dress-maker rather than a tailoress, or historical costume maker. This has resulted in costumes with modern colours, and lightweight satin, rather than good broadcloth. The correct colours are shown in a set of postcards published by Norfolk Museums, showing the whifflers, pikemen, "Snap" dragon, & "Tom Fool" (copied from a contemporary stained glass window in Norwich.)
When I first came across the whifflers (many years ago), a columnist in the Eastern Daily Press referred to them as "municipal cosh-boys"! They originally walked in front of medieval mayoral processions, clearing the way through the crowds with judicious use of staves. As the years passed, the staves were flourished with great panache (rather like Italian flag-throwers in similar processions).
I thought that perhaps the name whiffler had come from a mistaken interpretation of Whissler (with the long S). But it seems that "to whiffle" (and probably "to whistle" also) is a reference to the sound of the staves being swung through the air.
I completed notes on the history of bands in Fakenham, which I had promised to the Fakenham Town Band. I suspect that I had found a few more details than they had. From the Waits' website I found the 17th-century reference to The Fakenham Musick (in the Malone Society records). Fakenham didn't have a Corporation, so presumably this was a private ensemble, acting in lieu of Waits. Another band was that of the Norfolk Yeomanry, which was apparently based in Fakenham during the 1830s and 1840s, until the Corps was disbanded in 1849.
Kind regards, David Jackson
Chris and James,
The last Leeds Wait, Thomas Crawshaw, died in 1858 and will have lain in
an unmarked pauper's grave for 150 years in Beckett Street Cemetery in
November. (The stone shown in the picture in the pictures section is dedicated to two
subsequent burials in the grave.) I have now obtained permission to
place a memorial stone on his grave, which we plan to unveil at a civic
ceremony on or near the anniversary of his death. Having the Lord Mayor
in attendance is the least the city can do, having dismissed poor Thomas
in 1835, knocked his house down in the "improvements" circa 1840, and
let him die a pauper on out-relief in 1858.
Also in November, we will be revealing the music of the Crawshaw family
manuscript book in a performance at Temple Newsam, with the waits
performing some of the marches and the dances of the Assembly Rooms, and
our patron Richard Rastall playing some of the keyboard pieces.
Regards,
Alan Radford
James Merryweather tells me that his book on the history of music in York, including his research of the York Waits, York Music, and an update on subsequent research, are available as PDFs on CD to anyone who sends him a pound. See his website www.merryweather.me.uk for contact details. Or there are still a few copies of the book available from the publisher, Sessions of York, at £6.95 plus P&P.
Chris.
In Thomas Dekker’s “The Magnificent Entertainment Given to King James,” describing the arrival of James I in London for his coronation in 1603, there is a reference to a banquet with music by “The Wayts and Haultboyes of London.” Does “wayts” refer to the musicians and “haultboyes” to their instruments, or what?
Alan
For the entry of the three-year-old Prince Edward, heir to the throne and subsequently Edward V, into Coventry in 1474, he was greeted “with mynstrallcy of the wayts of the cite”.
Alan
Waits, or merely wait-pipes, at sea:
From Sir Richard Hawkins, "The Complete Seaman"
"I set sail the 12th June, 1593, in the afternoon; and all put jn order, I looft near the shore to give my farewell to all the inhabitants of the
towne, whereof the most part were gathered together upon the Hoe, to show their grateful correspondency to the love and zeal which I, my father, and predecessors have ever borne to that place as to our natural and mother town. And first with my noise of trumpets, after with my waytes and other music, and lastly with the artillery of my ships, I made the best signification I could of a kind farewell. This they answered with the waytes of the towne, and the ordinance on the shore, and with shouting of voices; which, with the fair evening and silence of the night, were heard a great distance off.
And the Admiral came upon us: which being within musket shot, we hailed with our trumpets, our waytes, and after with our artillery; which they answered with artillery two for one."
This does suggest that wait-pipes were louder than trumpets.
Alan
Oooh, that's nice! If Plymouth was his home town, he may have had some of the Plymouth Waits on board. There's several references to Town Waits volunteering to go on voyages - Lynn and Norwich come to mind.
Chris
Plymouth was his home town. He was born there, and he served as its Mayor (1603-4) and its M.P.(1604). He later moved a little along the coast to Slapton, from whence he served as Vice-Admiral of Devon.
Alan
From: "The History and Antiquities of Boston", by Pishey Thompson, 1856.
In 1573, "Edward Astell, of Boston, musician, with his several apprentices, were appointed the 'waytes' of the borough, to play every morning throughout the borough, from Michaelmas until Christmas, and from the twelfth day until Easter (certain holidays and Fridays excepted), unless reasonable cause be to the contrary. It was, therefore, agreed by the Mayor and burgesses, that for and towards their paynes and travail in this behalf, every alderman shall pay to the said Edward yearly, so long as he shall continue to be wayte of this borough, 4s., by equal payments at Christmas and Easter, and each of the common council, 2s. annually in like manner. All other inhabitants to pay yearly to the said Edward in like manner, such sums as they shall be taxed by the Mayor, recorder, and aldermen."
A musician with multiple apprentices? Shocking!
Apprentices as full-blown waits? What is the world coming to? I thought Boston at the time was of higher status than that.
Regards,
Alan Radford
Very nice. I have a feeling that this systemn of employing a man and leaving it to him to find the rest of the band was fairly common.
Chris.
We are holding a waits "mini-fest" workshop on Saturday, April 5th. It will be for waits-type loud winds (cornetti, lysarden, shawms, rauschpfeiffes, sackbutts, curtals and possibly also bagpipes) playing waits-type repertoire, and will be run by Tim Bayley of The York Waits. Because the funding comes from Yorkshire Arts, we have to hold it within Yorkshire, but we are holding it in Doncaster at the Goldsmith Centre 259 Sprotbrough Road Sprotbrough. Doncaster. DN5 8BP to bring it closer to folk from Lynn, Ely, Lincoln, Colchester, Gloucester, Canterbury etc.. It will be a joint venture by IGTP and NEEMF, as we are hoping to encourage more early wind musicians to revive other groups of waits.
Regards,
Alan Radford.
Click here for details, directions and booking form.
New Year Greetings!
I am pleased to announce that we now have a full compliment of players.
They are:
Myself - Sue Bridges - Jenny Sewell who will alternate between Shawms and Percussion
David Warham - Michael Miles playing Sackbuts.
All are experienced Recorder players and between us we also play:
Keyboard - Bagpipes – Bass Guitar (??????) - Flute - Oboe - Bassoon - Bass Viol - Lute.
We also have the offer of a consort of Crumhorns if the money stretches that far!
Our Target Year is 1650 so some of these additional instruments will be most appropriate when we give 'indoor' performances.
Our proposed 'launch' date is 3rd. May.
More anon.
Tony Pearson - Waitmaster
Withycot Ely Road Prickwillow Ely CB7 4UJ
01353 688275
for email)
It is hard to imagine, but the York Waits are 30 years old this year. The York Waits have a lot to answer for, for it is their success that has stimulated a whole branch of early music that would otherwise have been overlooked. They have led to the creation of a web site, a guild and even a limited company. But most of all they have given lots and lots of pleasure to both the general public and persons interested in history, and the history of music in particular.
I first came upon them some time soon after their formation, though the exact date and place eludes me. A person of my age had been brought up on David Munrow, Henry VIII and Elizabeth as created by the BBC. This was for most of us our first exposure to “proper” early music and it had us hooked. Listening to this type of music live was difficult and the York early music festival was the place to go. At that time all sorts of amateur groups performed before the glitterati took over, and my favourite event was a whole day affair where different groups would play in the open air and you could catch half a dozen or so bands in one day. These occurred in the Museum Gardens at York and at least twice at Beningbrough Hall just north of York.
I, in particular, remember one festival where the day ended with His Majestys Sagbutts & Cornetts playing the Royal Firework Music on the Mansion House steps, followed by a spectacular firework display which I watched curled up under a picnic blanket with my future wife; a fantastic day of sunshine and music. At the same event, the York Waits performed and we did our best to hear them as often as possible. Here was a band that for me ticked all the boxes; the sound was great, my first experience of a full shawm band. They looked great, no fancy dress costumes here, but proper clothing that had obviously been created by someone who knew what they were about. And finally, but not least, the performance; music expertly arranged, played without music, by experts who were obviously having a good time. Who can forget Ian’s twinkling eye and his youthful bounce of enthusiasm? They instantly became my favourite group. In the following years I heard them whenever I could. They played for other festival concerts, extremely lively dances and for the superb “Punks Delight” dance group, another excellent group of performers sadly no longer around.
My own progress through early music was extremely slow, relying as I did on one renaissance recorder for my repertoire! The only instrument that I felt I could afford. However I soon became involved with a group in Doncaster which my girlfriend had joined and there we had crumhorns and viols and two shawms which everybody said were very hard to play. But that did not stop me dreaming of one day being able to make a sound like the York Waits made. Eventually the group reformed and we needed a new title, something more local and historical. Why not become Waites? said I (after my heroes). We can’t do that! said they, there is already the York Waits, we would just be stealing their name! So what is a wait? Dr Merryweather’s excellent book soon educated me and off I went to the Doncaster Archives and there they were - as I often say 350 years of local music completely forgotten. James led me to the new Waits web site and we were off, the Doncaster Waites was reformed. Since then we have acquired shawms (still cheap ones) and livery coats and try our very best to behave as a good wait band should. Believe it or not, half of our band at this time had not heard the York Waits and there some was some scepticism about my glowing reports. In 2004, we were lucky enough to be invited to s’Hertogenbosch by the Stadspijpers. We were there, along with other bands on the guild website, and this was the real beginning of the International Guild of Town Pipers; the first time that all the bands met together and began to know each other. To my pleasure, the members of the York Waits proved to be charming and friendly and very patient with us lesser performers. They still left us in awe of their skills and experience and I am glad to say that my fellow waites from Doncaster were similarly impressed.
Like most groups, the York Waits have changed over the years members have departed for various reasons. Their music has also subtly changed, particularly in the past few years, as new skills have been introduced. What hasn’t changed is the quality, and for me they are still the best early music group in the world bar none!
Roger Offord
Chris,
I can only second Roger's comments on our inspiration, The York Waits.
We in Leeds remember them from the early days, the early York Early Music Festivals, the Bolton Percy Gatehouse Fairs etc., and when in 1983 we assembled a group of early musicians to play for Jim Cartmell's Capriol Early Dance Group at Jane Oakshott's wagon staging of the Chester Cycle on the Leeds University campus, I needed a name for our group. In homage to our friends from York, it had to be The Leeds Waits; I knew such a group existed as Peter Brears had included an illustration of one of their badges in his "Leeds Christmas Book". As with our colleagues in The Doncaster Waites, we progressed from recorders through crumhorns to shawms, cornett, sackbutt, bagpipes and curtal, inspired by the repertoire, style and sheer joie de vivre of The York Waits. In contrast to other leading early music groups who performed with expressions of intense concentration and seriousness, they were the embodiment of what Jaques Moderne had so aptly called "Musique de Joye"! As 2008 dawns, happy thirtieth birthday to The York
Waits from The Leeds Waits.
Alan Radford
Dear Pipers,
Here's a request we don't get every day and, I think, would find hard to oblige. For all our safeties, I did not open the e-mail, but copied the text and then deleted the lot. If anybody can help the Bill Jim I'm afraid I've destroyed the contact details - oops.
Chris - does this fit under the heading of miscellanea? Should we start a misconceptions section?
James
Hello sir?madam
I am Mr. Bill Jim and i will like to purchase on of your Silver chains please can you email me back with the types that you have and their price range with the model so that i can decide on what to but..note that i am going to make payment with my Major Credit Card and also you will br shipping intems to west africa which will be done by my own shipping company...please tell me if you are interested so that we can proceed business...hopefull to here from you soon..
Regards...
Bill Jim
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