Song selection 1
Song Selection 1 - Songs from the Baring-Gould Collection
On this, and the following pages, you will find some selections of songs from the Baring-Gould collection. At present, only the sheet music is available.
The rules for this first selection are a bit vague – they include some of our favourites, some songs that people have asked us for as well as a few that make it just because they are interesting. At present only the sheet music can be downloaded – we plan to add the sound files back when we find a better way of presenting them. We will add more songs to this selection in the future.
‘Selection 2 – Singing Women’ is a selection of songs that Shan has put together based on her study of the songs that Baring-Gould and his collaborators collected from women in Devon and Cornwall. This selection is presented with one version provided in the way Shan has transcribed and arranged it for singing. In addition there is a document that gives all the variants that are found for that song in the Personal Copy manuscript.
‘Selection 3 – Childrens Songs’ is another assembled by Shan from Baring-Gould’s manuscripts. These are some of the children’s songs found there, but our intention is not to appeal to children (though we hope they will enjoy the songs) but to provide some ammunition for singers and teachers and, particularly, for grandparents who want to share their love of English traditional song with their ‘young people’. Some of these songs have been included in Shan’s book of childrens’ songs – Rosy Apples.
I should issue a disclaimer. Working from manuscripts is not an exact science and, apart from the difficulty of reading words or music, mistakes do creep in. It is also important to remember that, when working from written folk tunes, there are a lot of choices to be made in phrasing and in the way a song is interpreted for singing. You are welcome to rely on our versions, but we strongly recommend that you check back to the original manuscripts if you wish to be sure that you are getting as close to the original performance as possible.
Cold and Haily Night – PC 3.117 (462) – Roud 135
This song was collected from John Woodridge of Thrushelton. Woodridge had travelled around England and, during those travels, added to a large repertoire that he had already learned from his father and from his grandmother.
Download the sheet music here (PDF)
In the Winter of Life – Ref. PC 3.137 (475) – Roud No 1308
This song was collected by Baring-Gould from Charles Arscott of Ramsley, South Zeal on 9 Aug 1894. Arscott would not allow Baring-Gould to note down the words at that time but Baring-Gould pencilled the song into his manuscript from memory. On 20 Mar 1896 he visited South Zeal again and the old man relented and allowed him to note the words, which he then copied over his pencilled version in triumphant black ink.
Download the sheet music here (PDF)
Harmless Molly – PC 2.391 (337) – Roud No 19104
Another song from Sam Fone, collected in December 1892. Fone said that he learnt this from his mother who sang it while she was doing the washing.
Download the sheet music here (PDF)
The Death of Queen Jane – Ref. PC 3, 7 (395) – Roud No 77
Collected by Baring-Gould from Sam Fone of Mary Tavy, 28 March 1893, this is a version of the well-known ballad about the birth of King Edward VI. This ballad was included by Professor Child in his collection, The English and Scottish Popular Ballads as No 170 and this version appears as one of the additions in Volume 5. The mistaken spelling is understandable given Baring-Gould’s handwriting. The assumption that it was recited was Child’s. Baring-Gould corrected by supplying the tune for an article in the Journal of the Folk Song Society written by Ann Gilchrist (JFSS II, No 9 (1906) p222.
Download the sheet music here (PDF)
Benjamin Bowlabags – PC 3.247 (542) – Roud 1514
This song was sent to Baring-Gould in 1896 by Rev. J. Hale Parlby who lived near Plymouth. Another variant of this song, ‘Benjamin Bowmaneer’, was published in the Journal of the English Folk Dance and Song Society in 1933 (JEFDSS, Vol. I, p. 97) after being given to Anne Gilchrist by Mary Spence of Patterdale who leaned it from her great-aunt, Sarah Foster, who came from Sedburgh and who said that she had learned it from a travelling tailor between 1804 – 07. Before the discovery of this version in Baring-Gould’s manuscript this had been the only known instance of this song.
Download the sheet music here (PDF)