Grasmere Dialect Plays
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grasdialectplays.bsky.social
Grasmere Dialect Plays
@grasdialectplays.bsky.social
170 followers 200 following 64 posts
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
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grasdialectplays.bsky.social
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:
Extract from 'A North-Country Flood', in H.D. Rawnsley's 1902 book, 'A Rambler's Notebook at the English Lakes', page 115. The sexton of Crosthwaite Church tells how he got to the church, despite the floods, by walking along the railway embankment. (He speaks in Cumbrian dialect.) Image of Crosthwaite Church, Keswick
November 4, 2025 at 10:17 PM
grasdialectplays.bsky.social
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
Photo of first page of Cumbria Life article on the Grasmere Dialect Plays. 3 black-and-white images: a large one of pace-egging on stage, and two smaller ones: rushbearing on stage and a publicity postcard of two young lovers in a hayfield
September 19, 2025 at 2:20 PM
grasdialectplays.bsky.social
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!
Three costumed actors, reading from scripts, in front of bookcases. Older man on left, younger man in centre, older woman on right.
August 14, 2025 at 2:49 PM
grasdialectplays.bsky.social
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
Two traditional bearings - as used in the annual Grasmere rushbearing procession, which features in the Grasmere Dialect Plays. They're made of sheafs of rushes, bound with twine, and decorated with pink-and-white flowers and sprigs of bracken
August 14, 2025 at 2:19 PM
grasdialectplays.bsky.social
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)
Grasmere resident, Richard Hardisty, wearing a blue check shirt, holds up a photograph of the 1924 Grasmere Dialect Play, "On Second Thoughts". The photo shows his great-uncle, Johnnie Hodgson, playing the fiddle in a rushbearing scene, with children
August 14, 2025 at 10:45 AM
grasdialectplays.bsky.social
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!
Members of the Lakeland Dialect Society, in costume, reading from the Grasmere Dialect Plays. They are in the library of the Armitt Museum, with bookcases and a projector screen behind them. Two men and one woman are standing, with scripts, and another woman is seated.
August 14, 2025 at 10:40 AM
grasdialectplays.bsky.social
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.
Members of the Lakeland Dialect Society, in costume, reading from the Grasmere Dialect Plays. They are in the library of the Armitt Museum, with bookcases and a projector screen behind them.
August 14, 2025 at 10:34 AM
grasdialectplays.bsky.social
Don't miss it! Tomorrow 2 pm at the Armitt, Ambleside
Tickets: armitt-library-and-museum-centre.arttickets.org.uk/armitt-libra...
August 12, 2025 at 8:32 AM
grasdialectplays.bsky.social
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...
August 9, 2025 at 11:34 AM
grasdialectplays.bsky.social
Coming soon (13 August) at the Armitt Museum, Ambleside ...
August 5, 2025 at 8:50 PM
grasdialectplays.bsky.social
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:
July 31, 2025 at 7:35 PM
grasdialectplays.bsky.social
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)
Announcement of an event - readings from the Grasmere Dialect Plays - at the Armitt Museum, Ambleside, in 13 August, 2.00-3.30 pm. Illustrated with a photograph of a young man and woman in a hayfield, taken from one of the original productions of the plays Details about the Grasmere Dialect Plays - which feature in an event to be held at the Armitt Museum, Ambleside, in 13 August, 2.00-3.30 pm. Illustrated with a photograph of a young man and woman in a hayfield, taken from one of the original productions of the plays
July 20, 2025 at 12:05 PM
grasdialectplays.bsky.social
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...
July 1, 2025 at 10:10 AM
grasdialectplays.bsky.social
All 3 of my short podcasts featuring readings form the #GrasmereDialectPlays now available here:

www.youtube.com/channel/UC6w...
List of 9 plays by Eleanor Rawnsley (nee Simpson), with an image of her + an image of the covers of 6 playtexts
December 27, 2024 at 3:09 PM
grasdialectplays.bsky.social
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?
Extract of text from Eleanor Rawnsley's Grasmere Dialect Play, 'A Woman of Property' (1922), referring to the practice of bracken-harvesting. There are 3 speakers: Miss Postlethwaite and rival suitors William (a farmer) and Isaac (a joiner). Miss Postlethwaite asks William how things have gone on the farm that week, and he says the last load of bracken wasn't brought in before the storm (although a neighbouring farmer's was). Isaac retorts that it's a poor farmer who can't predict the weather - and William retorts that Isaac should stick to his joinery work and not meddle in farming business. Miss Postlethwaite sends them both packing!
December 13, 2024 at 12:46 PM
grasdialectplays.bsky.social
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!
December 9, 2024 at 11:22 AM
grasdialectplays.bsky.social
Here are the Slovenian eggs, traditionally decorated for Shrovetide
Six decorated eggs, in a linen basket (from museum in Bled, Slovenia)
December 7, 2024 at 8:57 PM
grasdialectplays.bsky.social
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!
December 2, 2024 at 9:27 PM
grasdialectplays.bsky.social
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!)
Painting of Grasmere villagers in the annual rush-bearing procession outside St Oswald's church. Green-pinafored girls carry rushes and a sheet laden with flowers, and they are surrounded by women wearing straw hats. The painting, by Frank Bramley, is owned by the National Trust, and is dispalyed (inside a cupboard) in Grasmere Village Hall.
December 1, 2024 at 5:53 PM
grasdialectplays.bsky.social
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
Stage scene in which five children practise marching while holding 'bearings' made of rushes and decorated with flowers. A fiddler plays and an adult woman looks on. [Image with kind permission of the Wordsworth Trust, Grasmere]
December 1, 2024 at 11:26 AM
grasdialectplays.bsky.social
Eleanor Rawnsley's #GrasmereDialectPlays showcased local customs as well as dialect. One of these was rush-bearing (still celebrated today in Grasmere & Ambleside). Here are some images from Grasmere 2023: of the 'rushmaidens' and the rush-covered floor of St Oswald's church
6 girls in green pinafores and straw hats, carrying rushes and holding an embroidered cloth; church interior with floor covered in rushes
November 30, 2024 at 4:05 PM
grasdialectplays.bsky.social
Yep! Here's the version Eleanor Rawnsley incorporated into her play "Pace-eggin' Time" (1906). It's Hardwicke Rawnsley's adaptation of one of the more traditional versions. #GrasmereDialectPlays
Words of a "pace-egging" song, in two columns
November 28, 2024 at 8:38 PM
grasdialectplays.bsky.social
Here's a real treat!

Members of the Lakeland Dialect Society - Jean Scott-Smith & John Campbell - read an extract from "Pace-eggin' Time" (St George has just killed the Turk).

This reading accompanied my talk on the #GrasmereDialectPlays at the Uni of Cumbria on 5 Nov.

Podcasts coming soon ...
November 28, 2024 at 5:12 PM
grasdialectplays.bsky.social
Yes, I believe so. Here's another dated 1886, showing St Oswald's church, Grasmere. [Image with kind permission of The Wordsworth Trust, Grasmere]

Wordsworth Grasmere also has a letter from Dorothy Wordsworth dated 1832 describing egg-rolling (hope eggs as beautiful as these weren't rolled!)
November 28, 2024 at 5:01 PM
grasdialectplays.bsky.social
As depicted in Rawnsley's 1906 play "Pace-Eggin' Time", actors were rewarded with decorated eggs, to be used in an egg-rolling contest.

Wordsworth Grasmere has an egg collection - far too lovely to roll! [Pic by kind permission of the Wordsworth Trust]

Norman Nicholson also describes the practice
Decorated eggs, on a bed of straw
November 27, 2024 at 6:31 PM