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
S2 9 Two Widows, Three Knights, Nine Brave Boys
In musical circles in late Victorian times the question was often asked as to whether England had any traditional folk songs? The answer, thankfully, was "Yes!" But, it took Sabine Baring-Gould and other folk song collectors of that era to realise that these mythical folk songs had been looked for in the wrong places.
One such place that yielded many, many songs was ye olde worlde inn (pub!) and in this episode we return to The Falcon Inn in St Mawgan, Cornwall to unearth the story behind a classic Cornish folk song.
*Please can you help by supporting the show. I have always kept the episodes commercial-free, but in order for the podcasts to continue I do need some support, due to ongoing running costs. So, please support me (if you can) by donating. For details of how to make a donation click on support. Any help would be appreciated but if you were able to make a donation of $15 or more then I will send you a copy of my CD By Chance it was, recorded live at the Eden Project in Cornwall, on receipt of a mailing address!
*theparsonandthesongmen@outlook.com if you have any questions about the podcast series, or The Reverend Sabine Baring-Gould. Also please contact me if you would be interested in booking me for a talk/gig.
*Jon Tidball, podcast series producer - jontidball@hotmail.co.uk.
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*Thimblerigg videos on YouTube for more songs collected by The Reverend Sabine Baring-Gould
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=thimblerigg+videos
*Sabine Baring-Gould Centenary Celebration Group - 1924 to 2024 for more https://www.sbgcentenary.co.uk/
*Mike O'Connor. Cornish-based musicologist, folk singer and story-teller.
http://www.lyngham.co.uk/
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