www.whitehaven-news.co.uk January 29, 2009 5Crack
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He also offered violins, strings and
fittings, tuning and repairs, and, of
course sheet-music.
You could buy a piano from Mr
Hall for anything from �20 to �45, on
monthly terms of 10 shillings.
"Perfect satisfaction'' was
guaranteed.
The sheet music, ranging in price
from 2shillings to 4shillings is just a
small part of a collection of musical
memorabilia held by Syd Stephens of
Cockermouth, currently entrusted to
Michael Moon, and is interesting for
its connection to bygone times in and
around Cleator.
The front page engravings on these
sheets are works of art in themselves.
According to the 1891 census, John
B Senior was 39 and living at 4
Victoria Street, Cleator.
Ten years later, by the time he was
50, he was living at the Old Priory,
Cleator, near to Flosh Farm and was
by then married to Elizabeth, a
Cornishwoman.
Could she have been connected to
some of the Cornish tin miners who
arrived in the area at that time, to
work in the iron ore mines?
What had brought Mr Senior from
his Yorkshire homelands to West
Cumberland in the late 19th century
is unclear but while here he had
either been commissioned to write
his dance music, or worked to
ingratiate himself with the local
gentry by dedicating his pieces to
them.
Did he manage to make a living
from his musical inclinations or was
it just a sideline, and did he stay in
the area, we'll probably never know.
Interestingly there are one or two
families with the Senior surname
around here; are you a descendant?
A schottische is a polka type dance
and one of the oldest of all dances.
In an early description it was said
to be "a combination of two
movements, a polka and a circular
hop, the two combined making up a
most agreeable variety.''
THE ETHEL WALTZ: To Mrs Calderwood, of Beech House, Egremont
MUSIC FOR SEASCALE: The Seascale Schottische was dedicated to Mr G H Harrison, of Manx View
aven TO MISS LINDOW OF EHEN HALL: The Omelia Waltz

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