Wiltshire Folksong Database

Subject: Wiltshire Folksong Database
From: Greyeyes
Date: 29 Oct 08 - 07:59 AM

Mudcatters might be interested in a new database on the Wiltshire Libraries website. Browse or search here

From the intro:
"Wiltshire Folk Songs.Introduction
Many of the songs listed here are drawn from the manuscripts held by the Wiltshire and Swindon History Centre as 'WSRO: 2598/36 Packets 1 - 6 - Wiltshire: Williams, A: MS collection'.

"Alfred Williams, a foundry worker in the Swindon works of the Great Western Railway collected many songs in the early part of the Twentieth Century in and around the area he called the Upper Thames.

"The approach followed in noting the songs collected by Alfred Williams has been to reveal the geographical scope of his collecting and to identify songs sung by singers who lived in Wiltshire, a county sadly under represented in collections of traditional songs.

"In identifying a song as a 'Wiltshire' song the approach adopted draws on an aspect of Alfred Williams' annotations to the songs he collected. He sometimes says, for example, 'I obtained the copy at Bampton. I also heard it at Highworth.' The second singer is not identified, nor is a separate text given. So in addition to songs that are clearly recorded as being collected in a Wiltshire locality, there are also included those songs where indirect references as in the example above are given.

"In addition to the songs collected by Alfred Williams, the Vaughan Williams Memorial Library was the source for the songs collected in Wiltshire by G B Gardiner, the Hammond brothers, Cecil Sharp and Ralph Vaughan-Williams. Only the text noted in the original sources is reproduced. Thus many songs from these collectors are fragmentary."

The Alfred Williams manuscripts held in the Wiltshire and Swindon History Centre include many notes which were not published in "Folk Songs of the Upper Thames", and the database also draws extensively on a Ph.D Thesis written by Andrew Bathe, "Pedalling in the dark – the folk song collecting of Alfred Williams in the Upper Thames Valley" (2006).
A particularly interesting feature is the cross-referencing to biographical details about the people the songs were collected from.
There's a reasonable biog of Williams here .

Subject: RE: Wiltshire Folksong Database
From: GUEST,Mr Red who can't log in at the library
Date: 29 Oct 08 - 08:20 AM

Well I can but can't post!

I know someone who would be interested in this thread. The message has gone in their direction.

Subject: RE: Wiltshire Folksong Database
From: Malcolm Douglas
Date: 29 Oct 08 - 12:32 PM

See also last month's thread on the same subject: Folksongs of the Upper Thames ONLINE

That particular title is a bit misleading in that only the material from (or tenuously connected with) Wiltshire is included, but it's an extremely useful resource nonetheless, as anyone who has had to navigate the eccentric arrangement of the microfilm copy of Williams' MSS will find.

Subject: RE: Wiltshire Folksong Database
From: GUEST, Sminky
Date: 29 Oct 08 - 12:43 PM

I've noticed the appearance of some sound files since last time, and the number of songs has increased from 1071 to 1083.

Subject: RE: Wiltshire Folksong Database
From: Greyeyes
Date: 29 Oct 08 - 12:45 PM

Sorry, I didn't realise there was an existing thread. I did search the forum for "Alfred Williams" before posting, but it didn't throw up that one. Perhaps a Joeclone could combine the 2?

Subject: RE: Wiltshire Folksong Database
From: RTim
Date: 29 Oct 08 - 12:51 PM

I did notice the Mp3 recordings also - BUT Who is Singing?? Tim Radford

Subject: RE: Wiltshire Folksong Database
From: GUEST, Sminky
Date: 29 Oct 08 - 01:12 PM

Tim, there's some info for you on the other thread - been there for a while.