Traditional Song Forum Online Meeting 44

TSF Online Meeting 44, 29 May, 16:00 London time (BST, UTC+1)

The Meeting

Patience Young (patiencesinging@gmail.com)

‘The Abolition movement in lyrics and pictures: five songs from Again With One Voice’

From the Mansfield Decision of 1772 to the Slavery Abolition Act of 1833 there was considerable activity in Britain to secure freedom and rights for all people of African descent throughout the Empire. A selection of songs from Dick Holdstock’s book Again With One Voice (2021) brings our attention to aspects of that struggle within the larger context of political reform. Popular images from the time augment our understanding of the milieu in which these songs were shared. While this talk will be accessible to all, those with Dick’s book at hand may want to read his entries in advance for “An African’s Appeal to the British Nation” [Roud V40899], “Yankee Doodle: Or The Negroes Farewell to America” [no Roud number], “The African’s Complaint” [Roud 13891], “The Voice of Africa” [Roud V30283], and “Negro Slavery” [Roud V28107].

Richard Spencer (towerofsark@gmail.com)

'Songs from the Union: The folk song collections of Cecil Sharp in the English Poor-Law Workhouses, 1904-1923'

On going through my song notes over the winter, I found out that I sang four songs that were collected by Cecil Sharp from inmates of four different workhouses, and begin to dig deeper. Further research showed that over 10% of his English collections came from workhouses up and down the country. This research attempts to answer questions of why Sharp visited the workhouses, the kind of people he met there and the sort of songs he obtained.

Steve Gardham (gardhams@hotmail.com)

‘Reminiscences of an East Riding Folksong Collector, Episode 5: Songs of the first and Second World Wars’

The Small Print

Places for TSF Online meetings using Zoom are limited to 100 people, and it is recommended that you book early to ensure you have a place. TSF members receive this notice first, but the information will be made more widely available in two days’ time.

Please make your booking using the same e-mail address as you will use to log in to Zoom, and ensure that the booking is made in your full name (first name and family name). This name should also be used for your Zoom screen name, so that we know who you are. Bookings end 24 hours before the meeting. A couple watching the same screen only need to book one place. Please make sure that you enter your e-mail correctly in the booking process, otherwise you may not get the link for the meeting.

Those who book will receive an e-mail from Eventbrite confirming your attendance. On the day before the meeting (after bookings close at 4 pm) you will receive a further e-mail from TSF with the log-in details for the meeting.

If you are unable to attend, please let us know in good time so that your place can be offered to someone on the waiting list.

You will find the details of the meetings on our website, www.tradsong.org. You will also find a calendar prominently displayed which gives you the dates of future meetings.

We will look forward to seeing you at the meeting. The session will last for approximately 90 minutes.

Speaker Profiles

Steve Gardham started collecting folksongs in his native East Yorkshire in the mid 60s, and the results of this can be heard on the British Library Sound Archive website. His involvement with Folksong Research nationally goes back to the magazine of that name edited by Steve Roud, the predecessor of TSF. His first book of edited folksongs goes back to 1982, but nowadays, he is more well-known for the editing and historical notes to the Marrow Bones series of books, still in progress. His current research mostly revolves around the relationship between folk songs and street literature.

Richard Spencer is a retired systems analyst living in Lechlade, Gloucestershire. He is a keen singer of traditional song, and just as keen a listener. He is currently one of the organisers of the annual Yorkshire Traditional Song Weekend in Drax, North Yorkshire. He has a PhD in Trade Union History, but is new to folk song research (so please be kind!)

Patience Young is by inclination a wordsmith, by lifelong love a musician, and by profession an art historian. Retired as director of academic engagement at the Cantor Arts Center at Stanford University, she sings traditional songs of America and England, is an active member of the San Francisco Folk Music Club, serves as a juror of documentary films on human rights for the United Nations Association Film Festival, and has been assisting Dick Holdstock to get his book into print.