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Welcome to Kent Trad

This site is devoted to the musical traditions and customs of Kent. This may in time encompass dance, and seasonal customs such as hoodening, but the focus for now is very firmly on songs. The remit is “Songs sung in Kent” – this includes songs collected or recorded in Kent, but also songs collected in other counties, where the singer had Kentish roots and had learned the majority of his or her repertoire in Kent. Read more on the About page.

Content recently added

News and updates

• Kent Trad presentation at the Traditional Song Forum10 June 2025
  Here’s a recording of a presentation made by Andy Turner to the June meeting of the Traditional Song Forum (TSF). The presentation covers the background to the Kent Trad project, what you can find in the various sections of the site, and what’s going to be coming in future.
• Kent Trad is now launched1 February 2025
  It is intended that the Kent Trad website will become a comprehensive resource for songs and singers from Kent. It has been inspired by similar sites for other counties, such as GlosTrad and Sussex Traditions. Far fewer songs have been collected in Kent than in either Gloucestershire or Sussex – in particular, the early 20th… Continue Reading →

Singers

• Dick Mount
• Phoebe Smith
• Clarence Rook
• Dave Wickens
• Charles Bassett

Songs

• Where are you going to, my pretty maid? (Dabbling in the dew)
• In London’s Fair City (Villikins and his Dinah)
• A frog he would a-wooing go
• The Bailiff’s Daughter of Islington
• The Moon Shines Bright