These were the songs sung by Jeff Warner in the show:

LONG TIME TRAVELLING An American gospel song well-known in both white and black churches, it first appears in print in 1844. This version comes from North Carolina mountain singer Frank Proffitt.

HARD TIMES COME AGAIN NO MORE Written in 1854 by America's greatest song writer of the 19th century, Stephen Collins Foster (1826-1864). He composed more than 200 songs including Beautiful Dreamer, Old Folks at Home (Swanee River) and Oh Susanna.

SHALLOW BROWN is a 'shanty' or work song, used to help 19th century sailors with their heaving and hauling tasks. Most shanties are of African-American origin, this one from the Caribbean.

POOR WAYFARING PILGRIM was widely sung in the American south, dating back to the 18th century. The field recording is of Linzy Hicks and family, Beech Mountain, North Carolina, 1966, recorded by Anne and Frank Warner.

LOWLANDS A shanty, possibly drawn from an Anglo-Scots ballad. This version concerns a lover drowned in a seafaring region - the Lowlands -which maybe off Holland, Virginia, Australia or the Caribbean.

SING FARE YOU WELL Another shanty, this one sung to song-collector Cecil Sharp in 1915 by John 'Shanty-Jack' Short (1839-1933) of Watchet, Somerset. John was a shanty-man aboard 19th century American sailing ships.

SWEET BY AND BY A popular American gospel song, written in 1868 by S. Filmore Bennett and Joseph P. Webster. The field recording is of Frank Proffitt, Watauga County, North Carolina, 1940 by Anne and Frank Warner.

AWAY IDAHO Attributed to Frank French in 1864, about one of many gold rushes in the American west - and about human hope and determination to find a better life.

AN INVITATION TO NORTH AMERICA The words come from an 18th century broadside found at the Library of Congress. The tune Lillibulero dates back to at least the English Civil War.

BETTER HOME Gospel song, probably early twentieth century.

BONNIE JAMES CAMPBELL An ancient Scots ballad said to be about the 1594 Battle of Glenlivet. The field recording is of Frank Proffitt, Watauga County, NC, recorded by Anne and Frank Warner in 1960.

BY THE HUSH Also known as Paddy's Lamentation, it was collected by Edith Fowke in 1957 from logger O. J. Abbott in Ontario, Canada. Irish-Americans contributed much to the Union victory over the Confederacy in the American Civil War.

SWEET SUNNY SOUTH A mid-19th century song, probably out of American minstrelsy, that speaks to the memory of home and longing to return.

LONESOME VALLEY An early 20th century gospel song coming from both the Anglo and African-American communities. It was recorded by the famed Carter Family in 1930—and many times since.

THE PEOPLE IN STORIES:

PETER WILLIAMSON from Aberdeen
OLAUDAH EQUIANO from Essaka
SOPHIE CLIFTON & OLIVE KING from Brighton
ISLANDERS from South Uist and Benbecula
HASHEM ALSOUKI from Haran al-Awamid

Matthew is a superb storyteller. The PA could have been a little louder, as there was slight noise spill from a concert in the other hall. Last performance is this evening at The Place in Bedford.