Village Quire Launch New CD: Good Old Way

Having spent a very pleasant evening at Stretford Church yesterday evening being entertained by the Village Quire we can report that The Good Old Way is now available in the form of their debut CD. This morning has been spent listening to this excellent collection of songs and readings which among other things documents the demise of the West Gallery Choir as well as the coming of the enclosures. For full details of this CD go to http://www.villagequire.org.uk/GoodOldWay So, as the song says, ‘don’t delay’ get your copy of The Good Old Way CD before they sell out, as we suspect that is not far off judging by the way they were going last night.

Congratulations to all the Village Quire for a great recording and a great concert. Keep it up. Here are details of how to buy and what you get:

On sale from 14 April 2012, the entire Good Old Way show is now available on CD from the Genuine Folk label www.genuinefolk.com

Track listing – Click on the titles to see the lyrics.

Reading 1: Mellstock Gallery from Under the Greenwood Tree by Thomas Hardy

Psalm 100 Joseph Watts of Fenny Compton (1749) © Shelwin Music, Oxford 2005

Reading 2: Dick in Love from Under the Greenwood Tree by Thomas Hardy

Deryn Du Trad. arr. Paul Guppy (2009)

Reading 3: The New Pa'son from Under the Greenwood Tree by Thomas Hardy

Giberalter Words: Isaac Watts Psalm 72; Music W. J. White of St. Albans (ca. 1830)

Reading 4: Gallery vs Nave from Under the Greenwood Tree by Thomas Hardy

Psalm 40 Joseph Watts of Fenny Compton (1749) © Shelwin Music, Oxford 2005

Reading 5: Fancy Makes Her Debut from Under the Greenwood Tree by Thomas Hardy

The Good Old Way Oral transmission (from the singing of The Watersons) Arr. Dave Newell

Reading 6: Enclosure is Mooted from Hawthorn Hedge Country by Fred Archer

Psalm 9 – Thorpe Tune William Knapp from William East's The Voice Of Melody (1748)

Reading 7: The Effects of Enclosure from Hawthorn Hedge Country by Fred Archer

Jordan Trad. arr. Dave Newell Reading 8: Bredon Hill by A E Housman

Psalm 15th – Bishop's Castle Funeral Hymn John Symons (ca. 1816) Transcribed by Gordon Ashman (1990)

Reading 9: Richard Surman Ties a Knot from Hawthorn Hedge Country by Fred Archer

Psalm 128 - Burton Bradstock Anon, transcribed by Rollo Woods (1981)

Reading 10: From the Diary of Parson James Woodforde 1740 – 1803

Spanking Roger James Nuttall (1745–1806) Transcribed/edited by Jean Seymour (1991)

Reading 11: From the Diary of Parson James Woodforde 1740 –1803

Old Sye Thomas Healey (ca. 1830) Transcribed/edited by Jean Seymour (1994)

Reading 12: Saturday 7th May 1870 from The Diary of Francis Kilvert

One May Morning Early Oral transmission (from the singing of the Copper family) Arr. Dave Newell

Reading 13: Sunday from Cider with Rosie by Laurie Lee

Hail Shining Morn Reginald Spofforth (1810)


We were also entertained by the Eardisland Village Band with a selection of period pieces most fitting for the occasion. We were both heartened to see two English System Concertina’s playing away. Even better, one was a Baritone. Yes, we know, it’s sad isn’t it, but that’s the way music gets us sometimes.

The concert was a sell out fundraiser for this interesting ‘farm yard church’ which is now in the care of the Churches Conservation Trust. It is dedicated to St. Cosmas and St. Damian, the patron saints of doctors. We shall say no more for fear of spoiling your visit.

Folk Music, Harmony Singing and the West Gallery Choirs

If you haven’t heard a full West Gallery Choir complete with the old instruments then Vital Spark, which is performing at Clodock Church, Longtown, Herefordshire on December 28th at 7pm, weather permitting, is an evening out you should not miss. There is no charge for entry but there will be a retiring collection:

Traditional Old English Carols by Candlelight
with Vital Spark West Gallery Singers and Musicians
plus Mince Pies and Mulled Wine

Folk Music, Harmony Singing and the West Gallery Choirs

The first time I really heard this type of singing was at the famous Troubadour venue in the Old Brompton Road. I knew nothing about folk music but it was a cheap and warm evening out in the winter of 1962. I could just about afford the ticket and the cheapest meal on the menu; cheese salad. Little did I know that people like Martin Carthy, Bob Davenport, Red Sullivan, Robin Hall and Jimmy McGregor, Colin Wilkie and many others were the emerging establishment of the English folk revival. An evening in, by contrast ,was usually involved a feeble attempt to learn to play the guitar. In my case a rather dead sounding product of the now well known guitar rush of the 1950’s.
Although I enjoyed the sound it was only in recent years that I learnt the basic theory of harmony singing and started to understand what was involved. I had heard many harmonies without realising and of course this type of folk singing is most famously preserved by the Copper Family of Rottingdean in Sussex and the singers of various communities up and down the country. Many still singing Christmas carols of this sort in similar styles. It was only a few years ago that a fuller picture began to emerge when I first heard Vital Spark sing in Clodock Church. It was then that I first heard the term West Gallery singing.
As the name indicates it is the music which used to be sung in the West Galleries of our churches from about the start of the 18th century until it met its demise at the hands of the reforming Victorians. The first time I heard this music I recognised what to me was a ‘folk sound’. Where had this music been all those years. It was of course always there but like so many things during a working life my music had had to play second fiddle to surviving in the conveyor belt of rat race which rarely left an evening free for musical outings. OK, I now know that I should have made more of an effort but I realise that this is easily said now I am an escapee of the system.
Unfortunately West Gallery music did not escape another form of attack, church reform. My reaction to hearing Vital Spark for the first time was very much along the lines ‘ We was robbed’. Granted, the thieves, a combination of the anglo catholic Oxford Movement and the introduction of the more manageable Church Organ, has created a new tradition of English Church music which we would not like to lose, but even so, a rich heritage has been hidden away and only in recent times has it started to come out of the closet.
You have only to read Under the Green Wood Tree by Thomas hardy to see the resentment which was felt on both sides as the new formal and spiritual music replaced the more melodic and energetic tunes which would have been sung the night before in the pub before the choir managed to be in place on a Sunday morning. Luckily, like many of our old English songs, our ancestors who settled in America in the 17th had continued to sing in the style of the old country and happily preserved the old styles.

A FolkWorkshops publication by John Baxter with acknowledgments to Wikipedia.