Did you know there are over 300 known versions of ‘While Shepherds Watched’ out there?! In days gone by, the words of this carol (among many others) were put to existing folk tunes, often with different villages or regions becoming associated with a particular version.
There is so much fascinating lore and history surrounding both the carols that are still known today and, even more so, amongst many of the much older, largely forgotten, ones. Those that most of us older generations are still familiar with from our own childhoods tend to be Victorian, stemming very much from within the Church, and tell the religious story of the birth and nativity of Christ.
Outside of this, is a huge wealth of ancient carols, much more ‘folky’ in genre – describing winter scenes, and the coming together to feast, drink and make merry at the dark time of the year when company and good cheer was the heart and soul of rural life. These songs would have been sung around the village streets and farmsteads, connecting neighbour to neighbour. They would have been sung in cottage and in pub, around a fire, or by candle-light.
There is a strong tradition of folk carol singing still alive and well today, particularly in Northern England. Certain Sheffield pubs, for example, are renowned for the lusty, hearty singing of these old tunes, often in glorious harmony.
So it’s something of this passion, and joy, and earthy celebration that we would love to create together at this one-day singing workshop. We are attempting to promote and revive old and forgotten Christmas carols in Norfolk.
When: 2nd December, 10.30am-4pm Where: Weybourne village hall (near Sheringham) Cost: £30 Contact: natasha@natashahood.com to book or for further info
Rich Hatton, a Suffolk/Norfolk based musician and music educator tells EATMT about his project which he is currently working on playing contemporary music in a Folk style.
When it comes to getting young people involved, folk music has somewhat of an image problem. Whilst folk instruments themselves have an aesthetic that can easily inspire a young musician, the associated repertoire doesn’t often enjoy the same appeal; this is not to say that traditional folk repertoire is lacking. Rather, young people naturally gravitate towards playing music that they listen to or hear on a regular basis!
Sometimes all it takes is a foot in the door, to get started on an instrument and explore familiar repertoire before moving further into the folk world. This ongoing project (Adapting Contemporary Repertoire to the Folk Aesthetic) aims to encourage exactly that, currently covering popular music from Ozzy Osbourne, Iron Maiden & Kurt Cobain, game soundtracks including Age Of Empires II and Stardew Valley, film soundtracks including The Last Of The Mohicans (itself heavily influenced by a Scottish folk tune), and some classical music too, with an ambition to extend into new territory.
As a music educator, working in schools in Ipswich, I’ve already had great success in getting students interested in the accordion, banjo, ocarina and harp through this material, and that is hopefully just the beginning. Through guided discovery of folk instruments we can help students discover a life-long love for folk music and the brilliant folk music communities around the country. As folk music enthusiasts we should be careful to respect and maintain our core traditions, but also remember to respect the ever changing nature of what constitutes ‘folk’ music, encouraging young people to get involved and bring their own values and influences into the mix!
The first published performance part of this project is a Folk version of Ozzy Osbourne’s ‘Crazy Train’:
If any instrumentalists (or vocalists!) would like to get involved, model their skills as folk musicians, and help invoke the spirit of folk music in the younger generation, please do get in contact at withoutahatton@gmail.com or @richspectrumsounds on Instagram, Facebook or YouTube.
October 2023 sees a concerted effort to raise funds for the completion of a documentary film about the legendary folklorist’s collections and with hopes to raise enough money to build a digital archive which spans over 50 years of collecting. Many of these traditions documented include those from East Anglia as well as across the country.
Doc Rowe
Rob Curry, co director of the film company Fifth Column Films (The Ballad of Shirley Collins & Way of the Morris) tells EATMT about his (and co director Tim Plester’s) plans to help Doc to share his archive as widely and as freely as possible.
My co-director Tim Plester and I are currently making a film about the folklorist Doc Rowe and his incredible archive. Since the mid-1960s, Doc has been visiting and documenting seasonal events up and down the country, and has built up an extraordinary document of English tradition, not least in East Anglia. Be it Molly Dancing, Straw Bears, skipping in Alciston, dicing for bibles in St Ives or quaffing cakes and ale in Bury St Edmunds, Doc has been there and recorded it.
We’re currently running a crowdfunding campaign (from 19th October 2023) to digitise a substantial portion of his priceless video material, so it can be permanently saved for posterity. You can donate HERE for this campaign.
For our part, in between making our first film, ‘Way of the Morris’, which tells the story of the Morris revival in the 1970s in Tim’s home village of Adderbury in North Oxfordshire, and our second, ‘The Ballad of Shirley Collins’, which offers a deep dive into the traditions of East Sussex, we ourselves ventured out to the heart of East Anglia, in search of the mercurial tradition of Dwyle Flonking. The result was a short film called ‘Here We’m Be Together’, but the film did not turn out the way we expected it to. We went in search of the origins of this tradition, which claimed to be depicted in Bruegel paintings from the 16th Century, but which felt more modern than that. We did indeed track down the origins, to a village in Suffolk in the 1960s, but decided that the myth was more exciting than the facts, and focused instead on the game itself. Having filmed the “Dwyle Flonking World Championships” in the grounds of Ludham Bridge’s Dog Inn, we happened upon a chance encounter with a fruit and veg seller around the corner, who had a shed with an honesty box outside his house. Some of you may know Ken Allen, but for those that don’t, the film will introduce you to a true, homespun, raconteur, who, fortunately for us, had taken part in Dwyle Flonking on numerous previous occasions (once dressed in drag).
Ken had no interest in the origins of Dwyle Flonking, it was just part of the local fabric, and something he simply took part in, unquestioningly. And it is this that resonates with all the customs Doc has documented and participated in. He sees them as expressions of community, as ways for people to connect and interact and celebrate themselves and their environment. In this way, he captures the continuity between the vast range of seemingly divergent traditions he has visited, be it burning Viking ships off the north coast of Scotland, beating the living hell out of your neighbours at the various Shrovetide football games of The North East, weighing gooseberries in North Yorkshire or dancing abut with hankies in The Cotswolds.
We set out to make this film because we wanted to draw attention to the significance of Doc’s archive, both to the communities he’s documented, but also to the vernacular history of the British Isles. We are now near the end of the process, but still need to access a small portion of the material Doc currently has stored upon film and video cassettes in his storehouse in Whitby. Rather than restrict ourselves to advocating for the collection, we thought we’d use this as an opportunity to be a part of saving it for future generations, and are therefore running a campaign not to raise money for the film, but to digitise the entirety of his audio-visual material related to seasonal events, so it can be permanently archived and also (ultimately) be made available for public viewing. Please do take a look at our fundraising campaign, share far and wide, and be a part of it if you can. Collectively, we will have done those who come after us a very huge service!
Rumburgh Morris is a mixed-sex side formed in 2008, dancing Cotswold Morris. It is based in the village of Rumburgh, Suffolk, with The Buck as headquarters, although practice sessions are held in the village hall at St. Margaret South Elmham on Tuesday evenings starting at 7:45pm. New dancers or musicians are always welcome.
Waveney foodbank which is a local charity, offers 3 days emergency food to anyone living in food crisis, they have 11 distribution centres which cover North and Mid Suffolk and South Norfolk along with East Suffolk. They also provide a local delivery service for those unable to travel, Waveney foodbank work closely with a network of local and national care agencies who identify those in need.
Rumburgh Morris is pleased to make a contribution to the Foodbank in these testing times.
Matthew Scade, project manager for Waveney foodbank added
“We don’t think anyone in our community should have to face going hungry. That’s why we provide a minimum of three days’ nutritionally balanced emergency food and support to local people who are referred to us in crisis.
Already this year we’ve seen 44% more people walk through our doors asking for assistance.
With energy bills increasing and food costing more, Christmas this year will be another expense that many people cannot afford, we would like to say a big thank you to everyone at Rumburgh Morris, this donation will help us ensure that adults and children alike will have a Christmas to remember for the right reasons, and more importantly without having to choose between food or fuelâ€.
If you are struggling financially, please contact: Help Through Hardship on Freephone 0808 208 2138
You can contact Waveney foodbank T: 07484 394749 or E: info@waveney.foodbank.org.uk
