1 Starting Out

In 1888 The Reverend Sabine Baring-Gould set himself the daunting task of collecting the folk songs of his native Devonshire, and later Cornwall, before they died out with their ageing singers. If he had not done so then this important part of our traditional musical heritage would have been lost forever. This first episode tells the story of how he began this project that would consume him for the next fifteen years. As the Reverend Sabine Baring-Gould said: He considered it to be 'the most important achievement of his life'.