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
S3 4 Poptastic!
Firstly, Many Happy Returns to The Parson And The Songmen as it celebrates its Second Birthday with its Fiftieth Episode!
In this special episode Mike tells the story of how a song collected by The Reverend Sabine Baring-Gould made it into the British pop charts and peaked at No.3 no less!! What the Reverend Gentleman would have thought of Elvis (No.1), The Drifters (No.2) and Cliff Richard (No.4) who surrounded him at the top of the chart we will never know, but I bet he would have been chuffed that one of 'his songs' had reached such a huge audience.
Well, here's to the next fifty episodes of The Parson and the Songmen.
*PLEASE VISIT MY NEW WEBSITE mikebosworth.uk Lots of info about my connection to folk music and The Reverend Sabine Baring Gould as well as upcoming gigs, contact details etc AND A CHANCE TO LISTEN TO CLIPS AND BUY A COPY OF MY CD ' By Chance It Was'.
*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.
*Please follow the facebook page for these podcasts:
https://www.facebook.com/people/The-Parson-and-the-Songmen/100093220748945/
*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/
*Barbara Griggs. Harpist and early music specialist. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Children-Arganteilin-Harp-Cornwall/dp/0954106857