The Parson & the Songmen
The Reverend Sabine Baring Gould was an exceptional parson and squire from Devonshire, England.
He is probably best remembered as the composer of the hymn 'Onward Christian Soldiers'.
Born in Exeter in 1834, he died at his estate, Lewtrenchard Manor in West Devon, in 1924.
As 2024 is the centenary of his death it gives me the opportunity to spotlight what he considered to be the most important achievement of his life, that of collecting the old folk songs of Devonshire, and later Cornwall, as he termed it, 'from the mouths of the people'.
Join me as I tell stories about, and sing songs from, this far from ordinary Victorian country parson as he travelled by pony and trap across his native Devonshire seeking out songs that now form a major part of the English folk song tradition.
The Parson & the Songmen
Latest Episodes
S4 9 Shipwrecked!
This 70th(!) episode of The Parson and the Songmen would not be possible without Mr Edward Blight, born just before the First World War and, whose lifelong obsession was collecting and preserving information about shipwrecks along the North Cor...
S4 8 "That Just Floors Me Every Time!"
"That just floors me every time" was a quote from BBC Radio 3 presenter Verity Sharp, talking about a track by Ben Walker, guitarist extraordinaire, and Mike's guest on this latest podcast from The Parson and the Songmen series.That's pr...
S4 7 For The Want Of A Good Woman
In this latest episode of The Parson and the Songmen we find The Reverend Sabine Baring-Gould at something of a loss. Some research into the Reverend Gentleman carried out by Mike earlier in the year led to the discovery of an artic...
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S4 6 'An Intriguing Creation'
Hello and welcome to the 67th (yes, you read correctly...) episode of The Parson and The Songmen!In this episode we thought it was high time that we visited the home of Sabine Baring-Gould - Lewtrenchard Manor - on the western edge of Da...
