From Old Songs, New Discoveres – selected Papers from the 2018 Folk Song Conference
Jim Carroll
Joseph Taylor in Lincolnshire, from whom Percy Grainger noted ‘Brigg Fair’, also sang in his church choir, as well as at the music festival where Grainger first heard him, and had always had a keen interest in music. His granddaughter relates that he even called his dog Minim, because it had one spot on its back, saying, ‘he couldn’t be a crotchet, he has no stick, and anyhow he must have a musical name’.
That Taylor was musically self-aware was acknowledged by Grainger, albeit somewhat condescendingly: ‘He most intelligently realizes just what sort of songs collectors are after, distinguishes surprisingly between genuine traditional tunes and other ditties,and is, in every way, a marvel of helpfulness and kindliness.

Likewise, in Cumbria we find singers with wide and diverse repertoires choosing to sing only certain songs in particular contexts: ‘folk songs’ if they were requested, dialect songs at appropriate gatherings, hunting songs or songs on farming themes at hunt and shepherds’ meets, and so on. An example is John Collinson who, after winning the Kendal Folk Song Competition in 1905, was subsequently visited by both Percy Grainger and Anne Gilchrist, who also collected from two other singers in the Kirkby Lonsdale area,