OF THEIR SYMPHONIES AND SONGS
IN their musical concerts they do not sing in unison like the inhabitants
of other countries, but in many different parts; so that in a company of
singers, which one very frequently meets with in Wales, you will hear as
many different parts and voices as there are performers, who all at
length unite, with organic melody, in one consonance and the soft
sweetness of B flat. In the northern district of Britain, beyond the
Humber, and on the borders of Yorkshire, the inhabitants make use of the
same kind of symphonious harmony, but with less variety; singing only in
two parts, one murmuring in the base, the other warbling in the acute or
treble. Neither of the two nations has acquired this peculiarity by art,
but by long habit, which has rendered it natural and familiar; and the
practice is now so firmly rooted in them, that it is unusual to hear a
simple and single melody well sung; and, what is still more wonderful,
the children, even from their infancy, sing in the same manner. As the
English in general do not adopt this mode of singing, but only those of
the northern countries, I believe that it was from the Danes and
Norwegians, by whom these parts of the island were more frequently
invaded, and held longer under their dominion, that the natives
contracted their mode of singing as well as speaking.