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Cecil Pearl
Personal Portrait No. 18
by John & Katie Howson
This article in our series of portraits of singers and musicians from East Anglia is written by John and Katie Howson, co-directors of EATMT.
Cecil Pearl was born at the beginning of the
twentieth century and was in his eighties when we met, played with and recorded
him in the 1980s. He lived, worked and played music in the villages north-west
of Ipswich. His working life started on his father's farm in Henley, operating a
steam threshing machine, and his last home was only a couple of miles down the
road, in Claydon, just outside Ipswich.
He had an unusual repertoire of tunes, mainly polkas and marches, which he
played in a rhythmical yet understated style in the key of C on his two-row B/C
melodeon. If you were in a pub and walked behind Cecil, with his cap and coat
on, you wouldn't guess that he was the one playing the music, as he hardly moved
when he played, using the bellows in a very economical manner.
In his younger days, Cecil played in many of the pubs around the area: Coddenham
Duke's Head, Witnesham Barley Mow and Swilland Half Moon, where he met up with
other musicians including Charlie Rookyard from Helmingham and Tom Bayham from
Otley. He sought out the best of the local players such as Alf Peachey, whom he
would find playing at Debenham Fair on Whit Monday. Cecil didn't have names for
most of his tunes, usually referring to them by the person he learnt them from.
Some of them may have come from 78 rpm recordings, probably via Alf Peachey, and
some standard 'country dance tunes' such as La Russe and Corn Riggs
probably also made their way into Cecil's repertoire in this way. He also had a
very idiosyncratic take on the now well known tune Speed the Plough,
which was the Suffolk Regiment's march.
The Old Hat Concert Party were occasional guests at the Islington Folk Club in
the days when it was held at the Empress of Russia pub, and we invited Cecil to
come with us on one occasion. The message came back that he was pleased to be
asked, but it was market day, and he always
went into town and didn't want to miss it! The wider world therefore never
really got to know Cecil, although his appearance at the 1984 English Country
Music Weekend in Mendlesham did bring him a new appreciative audience.
Incidentally, the musician Charlie Rookyard features in two of George Ewart
Evans' books (''Where Beards Wag All 'and 'Spoken History') and Ewart
Evans mentions that he played the 'accordion' (most older players used this name
to refer to a melodeon). We believe some tape recordings were
made of Charlie. We would love to hear from anyone with any further information
about him - full name William Charles Rookyard, 1889-1965, Helmingham.
Discography:
VT131CD 'Who
Owns the Game?' (8 tracks)
VTVS05/06 'Pigeon on the Gate'
(double cassette) (3 tracks)
Photo: John Howson
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What are the musical traditions of East Anglia?
Traditional Music Day Melodeons & More Workshops, classes & schools Community Projects
Profiles of traditional musicians Research Jig Dolls Dulcimers Stepdancing