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 16 Retying The Celtic Knot
As we near the end of the centenary year of the Reverend Sabine Baring-Gould's death, Mike ponders why the folksong collectors who came after him did not pursue the idea that many of the songs and tunes of Devon and Cornwall had celtic roots? We revisit the interview with Cornish-based musicologist Mike O'Connor from Series Two, Podcast 11 to reinforce Mike's view as to whether there was a positive link.
Mike's website: mikebosworth.uk
Podcast producer: jontidball@hotmail.co.uk
https://www.facebook.com/people/The-Parson-and-the-Songmen/100093220748945/
Mike's YouTube page:
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=thimblerigg+videos
Sabine Baring-Gould Centenary Celebration Group: https://www.sbgcentenary.co.uk/
Simon Mayor: mandolin.co.uk
Mike O'Connor: http://www.lyngham.co.uk/
Barbara Griggs: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Children-Arganteilin-Harp-Cornwall/dp/0954106857
Pete Coe: https://petecoe.co.uk/
Castle Heritage Centre, Bude: https://www.thecastlebude.co.uk/
Devon Association of Ringers: https://www.devonbells.co.uk/
Wren Music: https://www.wrenmusic.co.uk/