REPORT ON THE OCTOBER 2006 MEETING

CHAPBOOKS

The speaker at the October meeting of the ALSTON MOOR HISTORICAL SOCIETY was Barry McKay of Appleby who made an illustrated presentation entitled ‘Chapbooks and their place in popular culture’. Mr McKay owns what is probably the largest collection of chapbooks in private hands and he has many years experience both as a collect and dealer in this relatively unusual area.

The talk covered both chapbooks (‘chap’ is a corruption of ‘cheap‘) and song sheets. The numbers of both these written formats in circulation at any one time suggests that the population was not as illiterate as current opinion would have us believe. Their popularity, and the numbers printed, suggests that many people were able to read and enjoy a wide variety of subject matter. A chapbook is small, approximately 5.5 by 3.5 inches and usually 8 to 24 pages in length. A children’s series was smaller still and measured 2.5 by 1.5 inches. The topics covers were many and various covering well-known stories such as Robin Hood, Dick Whittington and Tom Thumb plus riddles, the latest popular songs/ballads, stories and history (real or otherwise). There were also books on religious and political subjects - and all for 1 penny! Out of this fee the printer and the seller of the publication had to cover costs and make a living. The retail outlets were the chapmen who travelled around selling not only chapbooks and ballads but a wide variety of other fancy and utilitarian goods displayed in a tray carried round the neck.

The front cover of the book invariably carried an illustration from a woodcut but usually had no relevance to the contents and was intended to catch the eye and help sales. The wood blocks were used over and over and some show signs of wear that enables the printing run to be dated by the extent of the deterioration as no attempt seems to have been made to repair damage.

Some of the material was not always in the best possible taste and caused offence to many people who found it contrary to the moral health of the people. One such person was Hannah Moore, a self appointed censor/vigilante, who formed an association to print and produce ‘better’ books and this was so successful that in the first year they produced 86 titles and printed 2 Million copies.

The first printing presses were in London, Westminster, Oxford and Cambridge but gradually they were opened in the remainder of the UK. The demand for the books was very heavy and it is clear that most were read to destruction being passed from hand to hand ,with the result that they are quite rare not many surviving the heavy usage. The hands that passed them were also none too clean and not only did the books become heavily soiled, but the condition of the penny coins was such that one retailer put all them in a vinegar bath before he would handle them. These pennies added up and some traders earned large sums of money.

Another popular figure during this period was the ballad singer who sang in public places and then sold copies of the songs to the public. These were very popular and were in great demand. Song sellers displayed long sheets of songs on tall poles and sold them for a penny a yard. Usually the tune name was given but occasionally a few bars of music were included. Many illustrations, drawings and paintings of the time show song sheets pinned up on walls in places of work, homes and public buildings. The public were anxious to have access to the latest popular tunes as much as possible - just as is still the case today!

Songs were regularly available from sellers outside the Assize Court in Carlisle. However the main producer of such books and songs were found in Penrith. Ann Ball and Anthony Soulby both had businesses in the town and produced large volumes of books. Penrith was the main centre for chapmen in Cumbria and was on the route of these men who covered not only Cumbria, but also Southern Scotland and Tyneside. As they traveled round they bought new stock in each area and ensured a cross-fertilisation of books and ideas. To give an idea of the importance of Penrith, it has been estimated that 600 titles were produced in the whole of Scotland, 80 in Banbury (another important area), 156 in York and no fewer than 300 in Penrith.

The phenomena of printed chap books and song sheets started in the late 1600s and it was not until the 1860s that production ceased, although they were still sold from existing stock until the 1890s. Any copies that are discovered are much sought after although not of great financial value - but certainly a lot more than the original purchase price of one penny.

The next meeting of the Society will be in the Masonic Hall, Alston at 7.30 on the 1st of November and should be of interest to anyone who has an interest in the history and design features of old houses and how to date them. The speaker will be Richard Young and his title will be ‘From Towers to Terraces - traditional house types of the North Pennines’.