BY JOEL COLLIER, Organist . Nam, adhuc per domum, aut hortos cecinerat; quos ut parùm celebres, et tantæ voci angustos, spernebat.Non tamen Romæ incipere ausus. T A C. LONDON: Printed for G. KEARSLY , in Fleet-street. M. DCC. LXXIV. (Price One Shilling.)...

GOVERNORS of the HOSPITAL for the Maintenance and Education of exposed and deserted young Children. GENTLEMEN, While I was extracting the following sheets from my voluminous Journal, and connecting them together as accurately as I was able, in order to present the Public with a Specimen of my laborious investigation of the present state of Music in this my native country, I was somewhat at a loss to whom I could with most propriety inscribe my work. Whether to Doctor Burney , as the original inv

I was born in the Parish of Gotham , in the county of Nottingham : my father was a sawyer, and my mother had, for many years before her marriage, cried oysters and Newcastle-salmon about the streets of London. Neither of them are said to have been remarkable for their vocal or instrumental talents. My mother’s voice was, indeed, exceedingly shrill and dissonant, as I have been credibly informed by the neighbours; however, I was no sooner born than I gave proofs of uncommon musical propensities.

Thus occasionally consoling myself, the waggon arrived at the famous and ancient city of Lincoln . My first visit was to a young lady of high musical acquirements. She received me with a most bewitching air, which she sang to her guittar, for she had heard of my fame at Gotham , and was not unapprized of my ambulatory design: her name was originally Fernihough , but she had long dropped the hough at the end of it, as gothic and inharmonious. Thus she saluted me: “Dear Collioni, Collioni, Collion

Dr. Dilettanti was so kind as to make me a present of a place in the stage coach to Sheffield in my road to York , that I might inquire into the present state of the music of that city and cathedral. Amongst the other passengers, was a gentleman of a grave aspect; who, from his not attending to me at the inn, when I play’d a most inchanting solo on my hautboy, appear’d at first to have no ears, but on further conversation I found him a most agreeable companion. He cry’d up the ingenuity of the S

Nothing worth remark occur’d in my journey from hence to York ; but at my approach to this celebrated city, my heart leapt for joy as soon as I beheld the towers of the cathedral; here, says I, I shall be much caressed and followed, I dare believe, as there are so many of the Dilettanti who reside within the precincts of this antient seat of music and superstition. This letter, says I, is of inestimable value, taking it from my pocket, and reading the direction, “For that incomparable Musician a

From this place to Durham I was necessitated to travel on foot; and by playing the Black Joke , Murdoch O’Blaney , and other sentimental tunes to the girls of the villages I pass’d through, procured food and lodging, which my brother of the String had refused me. At Darlington , I waited on the Maestro di Capella , or clerk of the parish, who I may assert had the finest nasality, or nose-intonation, that ever was given to David ’s psalms ; and the melody of his Amen , was quite astonishing. So w

At Carlisle I waited on Lord Diddle-doodle with proper musical credentials: he was sat against a glass practising some solfeggis on the violin, and attending to the gracefulness of his own attitude. “Most illustrious Peer,” says I, (making a bow to the very ground) “your noble ancestors gain’d victory in the hardy fields of war, but you by music civilize and harmonize mankind; with what rapture must they lean from their starry mansions to see and hear your immortal powers of harmony and grace!”

An Enquiry into the Present State OF THE MUSIC OF THE SPHERES . To which will be prefixed , The Overture to the last Eclipse of the Moon ; And, a Dissertation on the Structure and Use Celestial Bow , commonly called the Rain-Bow . By JOEL COLLIER, Organist. Avia Pieridum perago loca nullius antè Trita solo. Lucr. ⁂ Price to Subscribers, Two Guineas; Non-Subscribers Three Guineas and an Half ....