A WORTHY COWLING
OCTOGENARIAN
HARD TIMES
RECALLED
INSTRUMENTALIST, VOCALIST, & HYMN WRITER
Taken from Craven Herald 1st July 1932.
(Marian Swales's scrapbook).
Mr. John Smith of no. 9 Middleton, Cowling, on
Saturday attained his 84th birthday, which was
celebrated by a gathering at his home by members of his
family and friends.
Mr. Smith, who is hale and hearty, has led an active
life, and has a retentive memory. He is known by most as
"JACK AT `MOOR TOP", a name which he derived as a lad
from a short residence at the Moor Top Farm near
Lothersdale, and which has always stuck to him. Born at
Mire Close Farm, Cowling, as a youth he worked for
farmers in
many districts, including Bradford and Barnoldswick, and
at the age of 23 came to work for Messrs. John Binns &
Sons Ltd., Cowling, being engaged in "making gas" for
the lighting of Croft Mills during winter time, managing
the gas retorts, and acting as general mechanic. Later,
for eight years, he worked for Mr. Dennis Davy,
blacksmith, Cowling. He then removed to Lothersdale, and
served Messrs. James Wilson & Sons as engineer and
mechanic for twelve years, afterwards returning to
Cowling and farming Woodside Farm for another twelve
years. He retired in 1900, and lived for three years at
Oldham; in 1903 he returned to Cowling, where he has
resided ever since.
He is a member of an old Quaker family, and well
remembers attending meetings at the Quaker Meeting House
at Lothersdale. He has very vivid recollections of the
hard
times of his youth, the long hours worked, and the
difficulty which country folk had in procuring a decent
livelihood. In his own word, there was no starting or
giving up time, and he well remembers working twelve and
fourteen hours a day. His earliest task was at the age
of six when he wound bobbins at Moor Top Farm for his
father, who was a hand-loom weaver. As he grew older and
stronger he took a more active part in both the farm
work and the hand loom weaving. Each week he and his
father shouldered a heavy load of cloth pieces and made
the journey from the farmstead near Lothersdale, through
Cowling, and over Earl's Crag, into Keighley Parish,
where they sold their goods and returned with a supply
of warp and weft for the next week's work.
"STIRABOUT" MEALS
He well remembers the scarcity of food and the complete
absence of any kind of luxuries, and often tells an
amusing story of a meal which was common in his home as
a youth. This was called "stirabout", a queer mixture of
bacon fat and meal which was heated in a huge frying pan
over the fire. When it was hot, a small quantity of
treacle was put in the middle, and the frying pan and
its contents deposited in the middle of the table. The
family sat round the table and the meal was always
relished, for there was nothing else to eat. "Everyone
helped himself or herself", said Mr. Smith, "and those
who could eat the quickest got the most". Dry bread and
meal was the general diet during week-days, and butter
was only supplied on Sundays as a special treat.
Mr. Smith can recall most of the interesting events
which occurred in the district half a century ago, such
as the Middleton Spring incident when, through a violent
demonstration on the part of the villagers, an attempt
to close the Spring was frustrated and the Broughton
Hall affray, when a band of Cowling poachers killed a
gamekeeper in Broughton Woods. He remembers helping his
grandfather to thresh corn in the barn, and going to the
doorway to watch the gang of poachers, who were
notorious in those days, march past.
Mr. Smith has been actively connected with musical
institutions in the district, and he is fond of music
today, as he was as a youth. He received his first music
lessons at
the age of 14, at the hands of Mr. James Shuttleworth,
who was for many years a prominent chorister at the
Lothersdale Parish Church, and acknowledged to be one of
the best vocalists in the district. Mr. Smith learnt
what used to be known as the "old notation", and took to
music readily. He developed a voice of some quality and
of
remarkable range, and often took the baritone, tenor and
alto parts in solo work. He was a member of several glee
unions in the district, and later choirmaster at Cowling
Hill Baptist Church, for several years. His ability as a
music teacher was widely recognised, and he has the
distinction of having trained the choirs at every place
of worship both in Cowling and Lothersdale for
anniversaries and special occasions. In addition, for
many years he gave private lessons.
SECRET OF GOOD HEALTH.
He also developed a liking for instrumental music, and
became a well-known cornet player and brass band
conductor. He was the solo cornet player in the first
Cowling Brass Band, which had its headquarters in
Winkholme. There are now only two surviving members of
this band, Mr. John Smith and Mr. Edward Smith of
Summerhouse Farm. The conductor of this band was Mr.
Simm Redman, also a noted musician in his day. During
his residence in Lothersdale, Mr. Smith formed a Brass
Band, of which he was conductor, and on returning to
Cowling also formed the present Cowling Temperance Brass
Band, which he served as conductor for many years.
From early youth Mr. Smith has possessed a remarkable
facility for music writing. In the old days he often
copied out parts for choirs when printed copies were too
expensive to buy, and has done much work in the way of
transposing music for brass bands. Some years ago he
published a book of hymn-tunes, containing a collection
of tunes which he had composed during his life, and this
publication has been much in demand. Brass Bands in many
parts of the country have played his hymn tunes, and he
has had many letters of appreciation of his music,
including some from abroad. The first of these tunes
called "The Green" was composed on the village green at
Cowling Hill when he was 20, and the last, appropriately
named "Eventide", he wrote at the age of 80. He gave
many of his tunes attractive titles derived from local
place names, such as "Cowling", "Wood House", "Scar
View", "West View", and "Gill Top".
Mr. Smith has enjoyed sound health throughout his life,
and today at the age of 84 is more vigorous in body and
mind than many a man twenty years his junior. He is a
man of remarkable activity, and during last week
actually spent several hours a day fence-walling on his
property. He is extremely proud of the fact that he can
still work
without undue fatigue, and holds that he can still
compete with most labourers at an eight-hour job. He
attributes his long life and good health to plain living
and moderate habits. Although he has never been a
teetotaller and is fond of a pipe of tobacco, his motto
has always been "moderation in all things'".
He has had ten children, of whom three sons and four
daughters are alive today. He has also ten grandchildren
and one great grandchild. His wife died 25 years ago. |
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