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
2 The Singing Machine
In this, the second episode of the Parson and the Songmen, we join the Reverend Sabine Baring-Gould as he starts the task of collecting the old folk songs of his native Devon. After early difficulties in tracking down any songs his luck changes when he encounters a local thatcher and hedger, James Parsons, who due to the sheer number of songs that he knew was called ‘The Singing Machine’.
Mike's website: mikebosworth.uk
Podcast producer: jontidball@hotmail.co.uk
Follow Mike on: https://www.facebook.com/people/The-Parson-and-the-Songmen/100093220748945/
Mike's YouTube page for Reverend Sabine Baring-Gould songs:
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=thimblerigg+videos
Sabine Baring-Gould Centenary Celebration Group - 1924 to 2024: https://www.sbgcentenary.co.uk/
Simon Mayor, ace mandolinist: mandolin.co.uk
Mike O'Connor, musicologist and musician: http://www.lyngham.co.uk/
Barbara Griggs, Cornish-based Harpist: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Children-Arganteilin-Harp-Cornwall/dp/0954106857
Pete Coe, One Man Folk Industry: https://petecoe.co.uk/