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Introduction.
The present writer seldom reads the well-known poem, from which the lines
on our title-page are quoted, without being strongly reminded of his
native Blackburn. It is true that Blackburn, though a "town of toil
and traffic," has very few "memories of the middle ages" to delight the
diligent student of the past; that it possesses no hoary castle, and no
ancient cathedral with "saints and bishops carved in stone" above its
doorways. Nor is it in such a place as Blackburn that the pilgrim
will find everywhere around him--
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The wondrous world of art,
Fountains wrought with richest sculpture
Standing in the common mart.
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He who seeks these things may indeed find them, or some of them, in the
immediate vicinity--at Clitheroe, or Hoghton, at Whalley, or at Mitton--but
in our town itself, since the demolition of the farmer very ancient parish
church of Saint Marie, he will find no building old enough to remind him
of the days "when art was still religion," and when England's heart was
young. But what he will find is a population descended from the
"brave and thrifty burghers" who in the course of a few generations have
made Blackburn the largest cotton manufacturing town in the world; and who
might with as much truth as the burghers of Nuremberg, boast "in uncouth
rhyme," that their busy town has indeed "stretched its hand through every
clime."
He will find, too--and this brings us to the immediate
subject of these chapters--that a life spent amid the smoke and smudge of
the factory and the foundry has not blinded the vision of the Blackburn
man to those beauties of nature which may be found so plentifully
scattered around him: as soon as he has climbed any of the hills that
encircle the town itself. This strong love of nature, the visitor
will find, has been the means of fostering, in many a humble home, the
first germs of that poetic genius with which Blackburn has been so richly
dowered.
Its position in this respect is, indeed, unique. As a
large town, it is not nearly so old as many of its neighbours; yet it
excels them all in the number and versatility of its native poets.
"Proud Preston" was a borough many centuries ago--when Blackburn, though
"a market town," was practically only a village.
Lancaster--"time-honoured Lancaster"--is certainly not less ancient as a
town than Preston. Yet neither of these historic towns can boast
such poetic wealth as belongs to Blackburn. To find anything like a
parallel, one would have to go as far as Manchester; and there,
doubtless,--through that city drawing to itself the poets of surrounding
districts,--would our glory be eclipsed. The Manchester school of
poets will be remembered far ages; thanks to the genius of Waugh,
Brierley, Swain, and a host of others, aided by the scholarly labours of
such men as Harland, Wilkinson, and Milner. And if our "Blackburn
School" be not so eminent, it is at least worthy to take rank close behind
that of Manchester as a nursery of native Lancashire literature.
Such names as Baron and Billington, Dugdale, Walker, Rawcliffe,
Yates, and others "too numerous to mention," suggest to an old
Blackburnian a garland of poesy such as very few towns can show; and it
has been through a "hope long deferred," that some one older and better
qualified than himself might undertake the task, that the present writer
has delayed for several years the execution of a work in which he has long
been interested.
The writer regrets, and apologises beforehand, for his own
lack of biographical and other information about many of our local
poets--and this regret and apology apply with threefold force to the very
earliest of the writers whose poems will be quoted; but he trusts that the
poems themselves will be found generally acceptable; some for their real
merit--and these, he hopes, will be many--others less for their intrinsic
merit than for their historical or topographical interest; and others
again--of a lighter kind--as examples of the kind of humour which has
found favour in this part of Lancashire during many changeful generations.
Perhaps a few words of explanation may be necessary in order
to indicate the rule followed in the compilation of the work. The
immense amount of matter to be dealt with necessitated the adoption of,
and the strict adherence to, some limiting principle. After long and
careful consideration, the writer decided to include two classes of poets
only: the one consisting of natives of Blackburn or its immediate
neighbourhood; and the other comprising poets who had not merely resided
in or close to Blackburn, but had been contributors to one or another of
the several journals published in the town. Had the work been
extended, so as to include all poets who are known to have resided here,
it is quite certain that it would have got far beyond its present size;
and would consequently have been too large for publication in one complete
and compact volume.
The writer has spared no pains to make the work (within the
limits just mentioned) as complete as possible. He has made frequent
and careful inquiries, extending over more than three years, about all the
Blackburn poets whose names have, from time to time, become known to him.
There are three, however,--mentioned in a locally well known poem by
William Billington,-- whom he has not succeeded in tracing. These
were named respectively Bradley, Stewart, and Hughes; but none of the
living poets of Blackburn appear to have known them; and no poems, bearing
their signatures, seem to have been locally printed.
In order to add to the permanent interest and value of the
volume, Portraits have been given of all the Blackburn poets of whom it
was possible to obtain good likenesses. This has been done at the
suggestion of Mr. James Rostron, Editor of the "Blackburn Times," to whom
the writer is indebted, not merely for consistent encouragement, but, to a
large extent for the opportunity of accomplishing the work: many of these
chapters,--since revised and supplemented,--having first appeared in that
journal.
The writer thanks the living poets, and the representatives
of deceased poets, for permission to quote from printed works; also, in
some cases, far the privilege of including valuable poems not previously
printed. He wishes gratefully to record the fact that the living
poets have, each according to his or her opportunities,--given great
assistance to the work: not merely as it affects themselves, but
especially in regard to the preservation of the best work of their
literary predecessors. Finally, he thanks Messrs. Abel Heywood and
Son for their courteously-expressed permission to quote from Lithgow's
edition of the Life and Poetical Works of John Critchley Prince.
G. H. |
