Though Langstrothdale Chase cannot boast of being long,
It's often been put into rhyme and to song
From the torrent that rises up on Cam Fell,
To the gentle meanders above Kettlewell.
The water it babbles twixt grey rocks and halls,
It cas cades and thrutches to underground halls,
Wind and rain lashes gaunt ruins up high,
By the fox in his lair and the lark in the sky.
Next we see Jacky as he drives down the lane,
Clearing the road in the snow and the rain.
Tonight he'll meet Norman in the White Lion at Cray,
With banjo and squeezebox theyll sing till the day.
Next we see Buckden and the band on the green,
With quoits and dry walling the Gala is seen.
With laughter and merriment the children will prance,
While the men prime with ale for the institute dance.
Dance till you drop, with the night in a whirl,
The young and the old, the boy and the girl.
While out in the dark with the stars and the night,
The hoot of the owl in the gentle moonlight..............

JIM  JARRATT 2000

SONG OF THE DALE  is an orchestral expression of  the imagery  and atmosphere I have aquired over twenty years  visiting, exploring and singing  in upper Wharfedale, North Yorkshire. It incorporates most of the traditional  music from the area especially that played by the late Jacky Beresford  of Buckden and his successors Tim and Rosie Boothman of  Linton.  It is in three movements - LANGSTROTHDALE CHASE - CLEAR THE ROAD - GALA DAY., and expresses a sequence of events roughly parallelling the poem reproduced above.

JIM JARRATT 2000