THE Ridgeway Singers and Band, led by Tim Laycock and Phil Humphries, will celebrate the rich dialect of Dorset through music, song and poetry in Tea with William Barnes in Cerne Abbas.
Barnes, the greatest of the dialect poets, relished the country dances, folk songs and carols of Dorset, and often wrote about community celebrations, where music was a key part of the proceedings.
He was also, as Thomas Hardy wrote, “probably the most interesting link between present and past forms of rural life that England possessed”.

Born in Bagber in the Blackmore Vale in 1801, Barnes attended school in Sturminster Newton.
In later life he was an innovative schoolmaster, with a knowledge of more than 70 languages, the author of 30-plus books in prose, an artist, engraver, musician, folklorist, inventor and parish priest.
Many of Barnes’ contemporaries regarded him as old fashioned, with his love of old ways, old words and old customs, but he captured the sound of Dorset speech in an artistic and imaginative way.

The Ridgeway Singers and Band will be performing Tea with William Barnes

The Ridgeway Singers and Band will be joined by guests from The William Barnes Society to celebrate the sounds and stories of old Dorset, performing traditional songs collected across the county, playing dance tunes from the repertoire of Blackmore Vale fiddler Benjamin Rose and reciting some of the poems that keep alive the rich dialect of Dorset.

Now a popular annual fixture in the calendar of Dorset touring arts charity Artsreach, this year’s Barnes celebration is at Cerne Abbas village hall on Sunday, February 19, at 3pm.

Tickets include a Dorset Cream tea and are available from Artsreach – phone 01305 269512 – or online at www.artsreach.co.uk

Local film company Pageant Productions is live streaming the event online – further information is available at www.artsreach.co.uk