Herbaceous Border, Arley Hall, Cheshire

When Winds Breathe Soft

by Samuel Webbe 1740 - 1816
A majestic choral classic, and a firm favourite with choral societies and audiences alike, this song is an audio seascape masterpiece with an intense nautical flavour, ranging from flat calm to storm force ten, Finisterre or Biscay style. A dramatic and beautiful song, capturing the ever changing mood of the sea with magical poetic words and well defined musical dynamics, which has featured prominently as a challenging test piece at choral competitions and festivals over several decades.
       Born in Minorca but brought up in London its composer Samuel Webbe was apprenticed to a cabinet maker where his aptitude for music was discovered after he was overheard playing the harpsichord he was repairing. After studying music he became one of the first organists at St Georges Church Liverpool and later in London at the Sardinian and Portuguese Embassy Chapels. He was a prolific composer of songs, and liturgical music including many motets and his opera "The Speechless Wife" was premiered at Covent Garden in 1794. "Jehovah, God of Gods, in pleasing accents speaks his sovereign will, and bids the waters and the winds be still" are typical of his fine poetic skills so well applied in his choral works and very reminiscent of Kipling making 'When Winds Breathe Soft' the perfect blend of words and music. Long may it continue retain its place as a popular item in the choral repertoire and stir the emotions with its powerful and awesome majesty.

When Winds Breathe Soft
When winds breathe soft, along the silent deep,
The waters curl, the peaceful billows sleep:
A stronger gale the troubled waves awakes;
The surface roughens, and the ocean shakes.

More dreadful still, when furious storms arise,
The mounting billows bellow to the skies;
On liquid rocks the tott'ring vessels toss'd,
Unnumber'd surges lash the foaming coast:
The raging waves, excited by the blast,
Whiten with wrath, and split the sturdy mast.

When, in an instant, He who rules the floods,
Earth, air, and fire, Jehovah God of gods!
In pleading accents speaks his sovereign will,
And bids the waters and the winds be still.
Hush'd are the winds, the waters cease to roar;
Safe are the seas, and silent as the shore.

Now say, what joy elates the sailors breast,
With prosp'rous gale so unexpected blest!
What ease, what transport in each face is seen!
The heavens look bright, the air and sea serene:
For ev'ry 'plaint we hear a joyful strain
To Him, whose power unbounded rules the main.

Palfreyman - January 2022

Further Reading
Richmond Hill Dairies - Pemberton - These pages contain some personal memories from my youth and my association with Richmond Hill Dairies, a local business I grew up with and remember with some affection. A well known and important feature of the local community in its day and part of the heritage of Pemberton, this is my attempt to commit some small snapshot of its history to print, I hope these pages paint a worthy picture.
Mind Your Language - A humorous poem by "the bard of Haydock" George Anderton, inspired by memories of a trip to Bad Canstatt, Stuttgart Germany with the Haydock Male Voice Choir in 1975. This publication will bring a smile to the faces of not only those members who were there at the time and know the people involved but the wider population of Haydock as well who speak the language.
Wigan and the American Civil War - Wigan Coal and Iron Company, The Right Honourable John Lancaster MP for Wigan, the Confederate Raider Alabama, USS Kearsarge, Cherbourg and the yacht Deerhound all feature in the last great sea battle of the American Civil War.
Wigan Old Bank 1792 - A tragic boating accident on Windermere and a surprising journey through the social history of Wigan during the reign of Queen Victoria, highlighting the relationships between four families who played an important part in the commercial development of the town.
The Brocklebank Line - Daniel Brocklebank (1741-1801), shipbuilder and mariner, a brief biography, and some background detail of his family and the shipping line he founded.
Little Ships at Zeebrugge - An account of a heroic attempt to block the port of Zeebrugge during the first World War, to protect supply routes into the UK by denying enemy submarines based there access to the open sea.
A Cricket Calypso - A short biopic of cricketer Cyril Washbrook and a snapshot of his career including his role in the West Indies tour of 1950 recorded in the lyrics of the Cricket Calypso.
Not Much of a Warrior - Wigan RLFC in the fifties and sixties, through rose coloured glasses. A golden age of legendary players and memorable moments, along with some personal memories.
Wigan Advertisements - 1960
Vulcan Foundry; Trustee Savings Bank; Battye & Sons;   Walker Brothers;  Bradley's Schoolwear;  Pendlebury's/Wiend Press;    James Lowe;  JJB Sports;  Bridge and Sons;  Worsley Mesnes Ironworks;  Sutcliffe Speakman - Leigh.
Upholland Telephone Exchange c1963
A new era in the history of Upholland as the village transistions from a manual telephone exchange in Parliament Street to a modern (for the sixties) Strowger automatic system, with subscriber trunk dialling in Church Street.

Farthingale Publications:... Is a hobby web site containing articles of local interest to Lancastrians, some favourite walking and cycling routes, selected words and poetry, and some writings of more general nature as well as the authors own picture gallery. Access is available via the homepage and menu at the head of the page.

Local Interest: A Cricket Calypso; A Lancashire Lullaby; Dust Upon God's Fair Earth; God's Choir; Isaac Watts 1674 - 1748; It's a Funny Life; John Byrom 1692 - 1793; John Lancaster Wigan MP; Jubilee Park Memorial, Ashton in Makerfield; Little Ships at War 1918; Mind Your Language; Not Much of a Warrior; Peveril of the Peak; Private Thomas Whitham VC; Richmond Hill Dairies; Scot Lane School Wigan; The Brocklebank Line; The Holy City Liverpool; The Lindsays of Haigh; The Nurburgring 1960; Thomas Aspinwall Miners Agent; Thomas Aspinwall Obituary; Thomas Linacre School Wigan; Upholland Telephone Exchange; Wigan Advertisements 1960; Wigan Old Bank 1792; Wigan Soldier Missing in Action.
Walking & Cycling: Abbey Lakes to Coppull Moor; A Lancashire Linear Walk; Blackrod or Bust; Chorley Ice Cream Walk; Cycle the Monsal Trail; Cycle the Sankey Valley; Douglas Valley Dawdle; Freshfield to Crosby; Haigh to Borsdane Wood; Irwell Valley Trail (Bury to Rawtenstall); Irwell Valley Trail (Bury to Salford); Moss Eccles Tarn; Three Counties Cycle Ride; Wigan Circular by Bike.
Words & Poetry: A Lancashire Mon; A Legend of Montrose; Aw've Turned me bit O' Garden O'er; Boat Song; Calm is the Sea; Classic Poetry; Dombey and Son; Dover Harbour; Dust upon God's Fair Earth; God Bless these Poor Wimmen that's Childer; Hymn Before Action; Jeff Unsworth's dialect poetry; King Cotton; Martin Chuzzlewit; Martyrs of the Arena; Mind Your Language; Only a Cranky Owd Foo'; On Th' Hills; Poet's Corner; Redgauntlet; Rogue Herries; The Antiquary; The Bride of Lammermoor; Th' Coartin' Neet; The Darkling Thrush; The Fair Rosamond; The Fair Rosamond Comic; The Family Man; The Glory of the Garden; The Heart of Midlothian; The Pickwick Papers; The Rolling English Road; The Wreck of the Hesperus; Toddlin' Whoam; When Winds Breathe Soft; Wisdom.
Wallgate Chronicles: Adolphe Adam; A Tale of Two Cities; A Walk in the Hills; Barnaby Rudge; Bookcase; Cat Bells; Desert Island Discs; Eay Times Uv Changed; Fidelio; Frank Whittle and th Jet Engine; Fun with Trigonometry; Hard Times; Hugo Boss comes to Wigan; In the footsteps of the Manchester Rambler; Ivanhoe; Little Dorrit; Lohengrin; Rob Roy; Romance on a Budget; Semele; Surprise at the Philharmonic; The Battle of Solferino; The Bohemian Girl; The Fair Maid of Perth; The Force of Destiny; The Getaway Car; The Marriage of Figaro; The Old Curiosity Shop; The Ravioli Room; The Spectroscope; The Switchroom Wigan; Travels in Time 1960; Travels in Time 2010.

Lyme Hall, Disley, Cheshire