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.

Eliza Carthy

Winter 2005
67-4

Contents

‘I’ll sing you a very pretty song … concerning Creeping Jane’ – Derek Schofield (centenary of Percy Grainger’s first song collecting in Lincolnshire).

The Singer, Song and Source – start of a new series. The Singer (Eliza Carthy) … the Song (Worcester City) … the Source (Joseph Taylor).

Tunes from Lincolnshire – Johnny Adams and Chris Partington

Dance, Sing and Play in Lincolnshire

Steve Heap: Gold Badge Citation

Dancing on English Ground – Colin Irwin

English Traditional Music from East Anglia – Katie Howson

Goodbye Wonky – Sarah Shorten and Peta Webb

40 Years of Whitby Folk – Graham Pirt

Folk Dance Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow – Derek Schofield

Broken Ankles Clog Out – Penny Allen

Olympics 2012 – Spectator

Branching Out – Horn Dancing for 70 Years, Goathland Plough Stots, Sidmouth Mummers, Storytelling

Reviews – including Community Dances Manual (Hugh Rippon), Spiers & Boden, Steve Tilston, Rachel Unthank, Random, Billy Bennington, June Tabor, John Kirkpatrick, Kieron Means, Chris Wood, The Witches of Elswick, John Tams, The Orchards, The Watersons.

Regular Features: Festive Round-Up; Songs under the Microscope; News; list of dance events.

Winter 2005

Lincolnshire – Special Issue!

To celebrate the centenary of Percy Grainger’s first folk song collecting in Lincolnshire in 1905, - when he heard Joseph Taylor singing ‘Brigg Fair’ and ‘Creeping Jane’ – this issue has a special feature on Lincolnshire and Grainger’s collecting.

A full list of published
references to Percy Grainger and his song collecting in Lincolnshire is
available on the efdss main site -
click here

This issue also sees the start of a new series – The Singer, Song and Source. The first in this series features Eliza Carthy, the song ‘Worcester City’ and the singer from whom she learnt the song, Joseph Taylor.

Linked to these features, you can hear two songs and a tune here:
1. ‘Worcester City’ sung by Joseph Taylor. Recorded 1908. Recording courtesy of the Vaughan Williams Memorial Library.

2. ‘Murder of Maria Martin’ sung by Joseph Taylor. Recorded 1908. Recording courtesy of the Vaughan Williams Memorial Library (this recording is not currently available on CD).

3. ‘Burton Broom Dance / The Lincolnshire Polka’ played by the band Pigeon English. Recorded 2005 and only appearing on their demo CD.
Recording courtesy of Pigeon English.

Pigeon English

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