english
dance & song 
English Dance &
Song is the longest-established magazine devoted to folk music, dance
and song in the country. First published in 1936, it has appeared at least
four times a year ever since.
Faustus
‘Celebrating
Cyril’
– a brief report and photos of the tribute event to
Cyril Tawney,held in April.
‘The Lore of the Playground’: Steve Roud
outlines a new survey of children’s folklore.
Reviews – including John Kirkpatrick, June Tabor, EFDSS’s
Listen to the Band CD, Ceilidh Minogue, Lau, the Musical Tradition’s
Meeting’s a Pleasure CDs, Mary Humphreys & Anahata,
Cyril Tawney, Alison McMorland & Geordie McIntyre, Fernhill, All Jigged
Out, The Watersons.
Plus book reviews of Sue Cubbin’s book about
Vaughan Williams’s song collecting in Essex, a novel featuring
morris dancers called Bells, and George Frampton’s
book on the Hoodeners of Kent.
Regular Features:
Branching Out; Festive Round-Up; Lives Remembered, Songs under the Microscope;
News; Those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer (list of dance events); EFDSS
Matters; Letters; and The Source (list of regional folk magazines).
The
new EFDSS tune book and accompanying CD, Hardcore
English, are previewed, sadly alongside Ian Russell’s
tribute to their compiler, Barry Callaghan who died very
recently.
Eliza Carthy’s Gold Badge citation is published,
written by the legendary record producer Joe Boyd.
The life and times of the Strawplaiters band from Bedfordshire
are described by band leader Brian Patrick.
The EFDSS has just released a new CD of dance music, Running Joak,
by The Gloworms. There’s a feature about the band.
69
-2 Summer 2007
48-page Full
Colour
issue!!!
A focus
on the music, song and dance of Dorset as well as features
on new EFDSS publications.
‘The Gleanings of Mr Sharp’s Harvest’ looks
at the song collecting of Henry and Robert Hammond in
Dorset in the early 20th century. A selection of the songs was published
in 1965 in the EFDSS song book Marrow Bones, now completely revised
and published once again.
The regular ‘Singer, Song and Source’ feature focuses on Faustus,
with band member Paul Sartin writing about the song ‘I am a
Brisk Lad’ collected from a distant relative, Edith Sartin.
The Thomas Hardy family tune books are re-examined by Dave Townsend
in an article ‘One Rattling Randy After Another, and there
is Dave’s arrangement of the tune ‘The Triumph’.
To round off the Dorset theme, editor Derek Schofield looks again at the
county’s best known folk dance, ‘The Dorset Four-Hand
Reel’. This article refers to three articles published in EDS
some years ago. These articles are available here (soon) in pdf format:
Dave Townsend, with Joan Flett and Ann-Marie Hulme, with notes by Anne
Clayton, Gillian Oates and John Wesencroft, ‘Some Dorset Reel-Steps’,
English Dance & Song, 44, 2 (Summer/Autumn 1982).
A.D.Townsend, ‘The Dorset Five-Handed Reel, With Notes on Other
Dorset Reels’, English Dance & Song, 43, 3 (1981). This article
can also be viewed as a pdf file.
Joan Flett, ‘Northumberland and Dorset Steps’, English Dance
& Song, 55, 4 (Winter 1993).
Sound Files
Sound files that complement the features are included here:
'I am a Brisk Lad' sung by Faustus
'The
Triumph' played by the Mellstock Band from their CD Glad
Tidings (also available on the new EFDSS CD Hardcore English.
Thanks to Mellstock Band and Dave Townsend for permission to include this
recording.
http://www.mellstockband.com
A track from The Gloworms CD Running Joak. Thanks to The Gloworms and EFDSS for permission to include this recording.
English Dance & Song exists to interest, inform and
stimulate the membership of the EFDSS, as well as the wider folk music
and dance community.
English Dance & Song aims to publish contributions of the highest
quality.
The range
of interests include traditional song, traditional dance (social, display,
ceremonial), traditional music, custom and children's games. The geographical
spread is not confined to England, but may also include Scotland, Wales
and Ireland; as well as the USA, and other areas of the world which may
be appropriate.
Potential contributors are asked to read the Contributor's Style Sheet.
htm rtf
pdf
Items for review should be sent to the Editor. Unsolicited reviews will
not be published.
The Editor of eds is Derek Schofield,
author of The First Week in August: Fifty Years of the Sidmouth
Festival, published in 2004 to celebrate the festival’s
Golden Jubilee.
He has also written biographies of William Kimber and Fred Jordan, as
published in their recent CDs, Absolutely Classic: The Music of William
Kimber (EFDSS, 1999) and A Shropshire Lad (Veteran, 2003). Derek has also
contributed to The Guardian, The Independent and The Times, as well as
to the Folk Music Journal and fRoots.
Contact the Editor at: Editor, English Dance and Song, EFDSS, Cecil Sharp
House, 2 Regent’s Park Road, London, NW1 7AY.
By email write to
eds.editor
@the domain name efdss.org