Grasmere Dialect Plays
Researching & sharing information about the extraordinary village plays performed in Grasmere from 1893 to 1937. Most were written and produced by Eleanor Rawnsley (nee Simpson); all were in Westmorland dialect. #LakeDistrict #Cumbria #GrasmereDialectPlays
- Next outing for the Grasmere Dialect Plays: the opening eve of the fabulous 'Words by the Water' Festival @tbtlake.bsky.social, Keswick. Come & join us at 6.15, 11th March in the Studio. Guaranteed to be informative - and fun! Tickets/full programme: www.wordsbythewaterkeswick.com/events/
- Remember my post about pace-egging in the #GrasmereDialectPlays? Over on X, (don't think she's on here) @sciencegirl posted a vid of Pysanka, the Ukrainian art of decorating eggs. Led to a wonderful thread on Eastern European egg decorating. Really worth checking out! Pic below from @queensowandsow
- Love it!
- Given current watery conditions here in Cumbria, I'm enjoying Hardwicke Rawnsley's account of the Keswick floods of 25 Oct 1888: '...when it siles down reet gaily, every road becomes a sike, and every sike a beck, and every beck a river'. Apparently the sexton of Crosthwaite church was undeterred:
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- Cumbria Life has published an expanded online version of my piece on the fabulous Grasmere Dialect Plays - including lots more images. Find it here: www.greatbritishlife.co.uk/magazines/cu...
- Exciting news: I've got a 3-page article on the Grasmere Dialect Plays in the October 2025 issue of 'Cumbria Life' magazine! Really hoping this will bring them to a wider audience ... @drpennybradshaw.bsky.social @countrystride.bsky.social
- NEW PODCAST - JUST POSTED: Two extracts from the fabulous 1924 Grasmere Dialect Play "On Second Thoughts", read by members of the Lakeland Dialect Society. Lead roles played by Jean Scott-Smith & John Campbell. They're brilliant! Listen here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=UP7t...
- Will Dinah marry Gawin, or his nephew, Kit? (Act IV, "On Second Thoughts") Another picture from yesterday's readings from the Grasmere Dialect Plays at the Armitt Museum, Ambleside. L to R: John Campbell (Gawin), Phillip Gate (Kit), & Jean Scott-Smith (Dinah). Watch out for the podcast!
- It's not every day you're given decorated bearings, hand-made with rushes from Wet Sleddale. Thank you so much, Jean Scott-Smith, President of the Lakeland Dialect Society The flower-decked sheafs are traditional in the Grasmere rushbearing, which features in the Grasmere Dialect Plays #LakeDistrict
- I met Richard Hardisty, whose great-uncle, Johnnie Hodgson, played the fiddle in several of the Grasmere Dialect Plays. Here's Richard holding a photo (which he hadn't seen before) of his great-uncle (far left) - in the rushbearing scene from "On Second Thoughts" (1924)
- Very many thanks to Jean Scott-Smith, John Campbell, Phillip Gate and Louise Green from the Lakeland Dialect Society for their superb readings from the Grasmere Dialect Plays. Thanks, too, to the Armitt Museum for hosting our event - & to the appreciative audience!
- A fabulous afternoon at the Armitt Museum, introducing readings from the Grasmere Dialect Plays by members of the Lakeland Dialect Society. A great time was had by players and audience alike! And wonderful to meet Grasmere residents with relatives in the original plays.
- Don't miss it! Tomorrow 2 pm at the Armitt, Ambleside Tickets: armitt-library-and-museum-centre.arttickets.org.uk/armitt-libra...
- Just 4 days to go ... The fabulous Jean Scott-Smith and John Campbell star in Readings from the Grasmere Dialect Plays at the Armitt Museum, Ambleside at 2 pm on Wed 13 August. Don't miss it! Tickets here: armitt-library-and-museum-centre.arttickets.org.uk/armitt-libra...
- Coming soon (13 August) at the Armitt Museum, Ambleside ...
- Less than two weeks to go until THE event of the summer: the Grasmere Dialect Plays at the Armitt, starring Jean Scott-Smith & John Campbell Tickets from: armitt-library-and-museum-centre.arttickets.org.uk/armitt-libra... We were rehearsing today In Kendal:
- Tickets now available for readings from the Grasmere Dialect Plays on 13 August, 2.00-3.30 at the Armitt Museum, Ambleside. I guarantee it will be an entertaining (as well as informative) event! www.armitt.com/event-direct... (scroll down to evvent)
- Come along to the Armitt Museum, Ambleside at 2 pm on 13 August! I'll be introducing readings from the Grasmere Dialect Plays by members of the Lakeland Dialect Society. Tickets: armitt-library-and-museum-centre.arttickets.org.uk/armitt-libra...
- I 'discovered' the #GrasmereDialectPlays as a part-time student on this fabulous MA course (& wrote my final dissertation on them). Certain that more discoveries await future students - why not find out more ...?!
- UPDATE: You can now access Jean Scott-Smith and Donald Campbell's brilliant readings from the Grasmere Dialect Plays directly from the Lakeland Dialect Society's website. Link here: lakelanddialectsociety.co.uk/recordings
- All 3 of my short podcasts featuring readings form the #GrasmereDialectPlays now available here: www.youtube.com/channel/UC6w...
- Reposted by Grasmere Dialect PlaysWe are disappointed but not surprised that Meta has used millions of pirated books to develop its AI systems. As a matter of urgency, Meta needs to compensate the rightsholders of all the works it has been exploiting. But what can authors do? Read here: societyofauthors.org/2025/03/21/t...
- Eleanor Rawnsley (nee Simpson), who wrote/staged the Grasmere Dialect Plays, lived for most of her life at Allan Bank, Grasmere. William Wordsworth - who lived at Allan Bank from 1808-1811 - wrote his 'Guide to the Lakes' there. New exhibition: www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
- All 3 of my short podcasts featuring readings form the #GrasmereDialectPlays now available here: www.youtube.com/channel/UC6w...
- If you enjoyed hearing Jean Scott-Smith (President of the Lakeland Dialect Society) playing the female leads in my "Three Proposals ..." podcast last week, here she is again as Matilda Knott, in a longer reading from Eleanor Rawnsley's play, "The Mistress of Mosshead". Happy Christmas!
- The perfect distraction from Christmas?! Third (and for now, final) short podcast of readings from the fantastic #GrasmereDialectPlays. What happens when Joseph Mumberson pays a surprise call on Matilda Knott, the eponymous "Mistress of Mosshead"? Find out here! www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCJ-...
- The perfect distraction from Christmas?! Third (and for now, final) short podcast of readings from the fantastic #GrasmereDialectPlays. What happens when Joseph Mumberson pays a surprise call on Matilda Knott, the eponymous "Mistress of Mosshead"? Find out here! www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCJ-...
- Have yourself 13 mins of pre-Christmas entertainment by listening to Kitty, Rachel and Matilda's responses to a proposal of marriage. (And enjoy a taster of Westmorland dialect as spoken by native Westmerians) #GrasmereDialectPlays
- Want to know the outcome of three - possibly surprising - marriage proposals? Of course you do! Here's my second podcast on the #GrasmereDialectPlays, featuring readers from the Lakeland Dialect Society: www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQAx...
- Have been talking to @drfrond.bsky.social - expert on all things ferns & bracken Bracken-harvesting crops up in one of the #GrasmereDialectPlays, 'A Woman of Property', performed in 1914, 1922 & 1931. (Extract below from 1922, Act I, p.11) Was it still a widespread farming practice in the 1930s?
- Want to know the outcome of three - possibly surprising - marriage proposals? Of course you do! Here's my second podcast on the #GrasmereDialectPlays, featuring readers from the Lakeland Dialect Society: www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQAx...
- The 9 #GrasmereDialectPlays written by Eleanor Rawnsley (nee Simpson) include *37* marriage proposals! They're a central plot device: despite clumsy suitors, meddling relatives, romantic triangles, & disparities of status, romance triumphs in the end. New podcast - 3 proposals - coming soon!
- Wonderful to see this! Any other countries where this traditional art is still followed? (I spotted some decorated eggs in the Castle Museum in Bled, Slovenia this summer)
- First #GrasmereDialectPlays podcast now live! YouTube link: www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHmp... Intro to the traditional custom of pace-egging, followed by a reading - by members of the Lakeland Dialect Society - from Eleanor Rawnsley's play 'Pace-eggin Time' Enjoy!
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- Another treat! 2nd short clip from reading of 'Pace-eggin' Time' by members of the Lakeland Dialect Soc. Here, the Doctor (Jean Scott-Smith) boasts about what he can cure. St George (John Campbell), slayer of the Turk, then adjures him to 'bring that man to life again'. Full podcast in the works!
- Welcome to our new Women's History Network page! We're excited to launch this space dedicated to celebrating and exploring the rich and diverse histories of women. To get us started who should we be following? #WomensHistory #HerStory #GenderHist
- Here's what Grasmere rush-bearing looked like in the early 20th Century (when Eleanor Rawnsley, nee Simpson, was writing her #GrasmereDialectPlays): it's Frank Bramley's painting in Grasmere Village Hall. Eleanor & her mother both feature in it. (Ask for its cupboard to be unlocked if you visit!)
- Here's how the Grasmere rush-bearing was represented on stage in Eleanor Rawnsley's play, 'On Second Thoughts'. The children practise marching with their 'bearings' to the tune of Jimmy Dawson's March. The Simpson & Rawnsley families participated in rush-bearing, & bearings were made at their homes
