'A case of a southern toff poking about in the north.'

Ms.Borchester doesn't have much time for some of these early collectors.

In the case of my wife's family we had the energetic toff-ette (or should that be toff-ee) Mrs. Kate Lee doin' some of her collecting in Rottingdean and staying with Sir Edward Carson whilst she did it. Double bubble against her then as Sir EC not only led the campaign against home rule for Ireland and was a prominent Unionist but also prosecuted Oscar Wilde. I believe KLs husband was also a powerful QC, hence the connection and indeed the visit. My point, laboured as it usually is, is that she collected some fifty songs from James and Thomas Copper, and they were acknowledged by the inclusion of five in the first journal of The Folk Song Society (later to become the EFDSS). The brothers were made honorary founder members of the Society, a fact which they either barely regarded or of which they were blissfully unaware. Nevertheless, from those small beginnings an effort was established to formalise the collection and recognition of folk song in this country. By the 1950s the wheel had turned full circle and the collected became the collector with Bob Copper's appointment (amongst others like Seamus Ennis) by the BBC as a freelance collector of song and dialect in Sussex aand Hampshire. The Copper brothers were delighted to sing her their songs and she admirably describes their pride in doing so, noting the subtleties of their delivery. Their joy was unbounded because on each of the several nights upon which they attended 'the big house' to sing, the resourceful Mrs Lee provided a bottle of whisky and two glasses. Needless to relate, the bottle was emptied by the end of each visit.

Sorry, they didn't sing Scarborough Fair, but I thought Mrs. Lee should be remembered for her good work - toff or not.