Volume 9 Number 4
Volume 9 Number 4 (2009) contains the following pieces:
Articles
Linda-May Ballard, Isabella McBride — Traditional Singer
Towards the end of her life, Isabella McBride recorded a selection of folk songs learned in childhood, together with reminiscences of the way in which the songs had been learned. While she occasionally sang the songs in intimate domestic settings, she had not sung them on social occasions for many decades. This paper explores the reasons for this in the broader context of cultural traditions, 'ownership', and identity in Northern Ireland.
E C Cawte, The Calling-On Song in the North-West of England
A song found in the north-western counties of England is like the calling-on song in sword dances. It is sometimes part of a hero-combat play, and it has been assumed that it is always part of a play, but it also occurs alone. Both play and song are usually performed at Easter in these counties. The words 'act', 'play', or 'mummers', on their own, are not adequate evidence for a hero-combat play. Calling-on stanzas were transferred to the Dales area of Yorkshire and to Northern Cheshire, adopting the season usual in each area. Cheshire performances have adopted text from the Westmorland area and counties south of Cheshire.
Graham Freeman, 'That Chief Undercurrent of My Mind': Percy Grainger and the Aesthetics of English Folk Song
Exactly a century after its publication, Percy Grainger's article 'Collecting with the Phonograph' stands as a towering monument to his dedication to English folk song and to his insight into the subtle performance practices of its performers. Yet Grainger's role in the history of English folk song remains a perplexing one, for he collected only for a short period between 1905 and 1909, before moving away to focus on, among other things, Danish folk song, electronic music, and his career as a concert pianist. This article provides a contextual background in which Grainger's English folk song collection can be seen as an extension of his complex and often radical modernist musical aesthetic.
Notes
| Gordon Ridgewell | The North of England Musical Tournament: History of the Sword Dance Competition Trophies |
Correspondence
| John Francmanis, E David Gregory | Lucy Broadwood and English Folk Song |
| Sally Brown | The Haymakers, 1950 |
Reviews — Books
| Steve Roud | Desire, Drink and Death in English Folk and Vernacular Song, 1600—1900 (Vic Gammon) |
| Lyn Murfin | Blackface Minstrelsy in Britain (Michael Pickering) |
| Valentina Bold | The Glenbuchat Ballads (David Buchan and James Moreira) |
| Roy Palmer | Hamish Henderson: A Biography. Vol I: The Making of the Poet (1919—1953) (Timothy Neat) |
| Simon Dentith | Ballad Collection, Lyric, and the Canon: The Call of the Popular from the Restoration to the New Criticism (Steve Newman) |
| Roly Brown | Dear Far-Voiced Veteran: Essays in Honour of Tom Munnelly (Anne Clune) |
| Pete Cooper | The Dance Music of Séamus Ennis (Pat Mitchell) |
| Keith Chandler | The Fiddle in Scottish Culture: Aspects of the Tradition (Katherine Campbell) |
| Steve Roud | Folk Music: The Basics (Ronald D Cohen) |
| E Bradtke | A Florida Fiddler: The Life and Times of Richard Seaman (Gregory Hansen) |
| Scott Freer | Prophet Singer: The Voice and Vision of Woody Guthrie (Mark Allan Jackson) |
| Bob Bushaway | The Romantics and the May Day Tradition (Essaka Joshua) |
| David Atkinson | James Hogg: A Bard of Nature's Making (Valentina Bold) |
| Britta Sweers | Protest Song in East and West Germany since the 1960s (David Robb) |
| Frances Wilkins | Chorus and Community (Karen Ahlquist) |
| Vic Gammon | Shakespeare's Songbook (Ross W Duffin) |
| Dave Townsend | Three Extraordinary Collections: Early 18th Century Dance Music (Pete Stewart) |
| E David Gregory | The North American Folk Music Revival: Nation and Identity in the United States and Canada, 1945—1980 (Gillian Mitchell) |
| Derek Schofield | Class Act: The Cultural and Political Life of Ewan MacColl (Ben Harker) |
| Sigrid Rieuwerts | The Song Repertoire of Amelia and Jane Harris (Emily Lyle, Kaye McAlpine and Anne Dhu McLucas)
The Songs of Amelia and Jane Harris: Scots Songs and Ballads from Perthshire Tradition (Katherine Campbell) |
Reviews — Sound Recordings
| Sigrid Rieuwerts and Frauke Jung | Binnorie: Songs, Ballads and Tunes (Elizabeth Stewart)
In Memory of Lizzie Higgins1929—1993 (Lizzie Higgins) |
Reviews — Shorter Notices
| Keith Chandler | Before the Night was Out ... Polkas, Hornpipes, Jigs, Schottisches & Waltzes Transcribed from Traditional Players in Norfolk & Suffolk (East Anglian Traditional Music Trust) |
| David Atkinson | Regiment po cesti gre / The Regiment Is on the March (Archives of the Institute of Ethnomusicology, Ljubljana) |
Obituaries
| Terry Moylan | Tom Munnelly 1944—2007 |
| Chris Metherell | Patricia Tracey 1927—2008 |
| Katalin Paksa | Lajos Vargyas 1914—2007 |
| Malcolm Taylor | Ursula Vaughan Williams 1911—2007 |
| Donald Braid | Duncan Williamson 1928—2007 |
Notes on Contributors
| Cover illustration: | Studio photograph of Isabella Green (McBride) aged nineteen or twenty
Courtesy of Ulster Folk and Transport Museum. |
Editor: David Atkinson
