author
Sidney Gilpin
d. 1892
Best remembered for preserving the songs and verse of Cumberland, this 19th-century editor helped bring regional poetry and dialect writing to a wider audience. His books remain a doorway into the language, humor, and local culture of England’s Lake District border country.
1 Audiobook
About the author
Working under the pen name Sidney Gilpin, George Coward of Carlisle became closely associated with the literature of Cumberland. He is known for editing and publishing collections that gathered local ballads, dialect poems, notes, and biographical sketches, helping preserve a strong regional tradition in print.
Among the works linked to him are The Songs and Ballads of Cumberland and later collections such as The Songs and Ballads of Cumberland and the Lake Country and The Popular Poetry of Cumberland and the Lake Country. These volumes brought together older songs and poems with commentary and glossary material that made them easier for new readers to enjoy.
He is also remembered in connection with the famous hunting song "D'ye ken John Peel," which was published in an Anglicized version by George Coward, writing as Sidney Gilpin. Although some personal details are hard to confirm from the sources available here, his lasting importance is clear: he helped save a rich body of northern English popular verse from being forgotten.