Author: Andy Turner

James Mannering

On the 9th July 1942, Francis Collinson noted two songs from a Fred Mannering at Bethersden, and one from a James Mannering. It is not possible to be 100% certain of either singer’s identity, but the most likely person is

Henry James Mannering, 1866-1954

He was baptised at the church of St Stephen, Lympne with West Hythe, on 14th January 1866. His residence was recorded as Marwood – presumably Marwood Farm, which is between Bonnington and Lympne. His father George was a labourer, and his mother was Ann née Hawkett. In 1871 the family were living at Mannering Green Lane, Bethersden. 10 years later they were at Snoadhill, Bethersden and Henry James’s first name is recorded simply as James. He was 15, and working as “Ag lab (indoor serv)”.

He was married to Sarah Jane Buss in 1887, and at the next census, in 1891, they were living at Grove Court Cottages, Dowe Street, Pluckley, with a son, Louis. By 1911 they had another four sons: Percy, Frederick, Raymond and Oliver. Although most census records give his name as Henry James, in 1901 he was listed as James, and it seems probable that this (or more likely Jim) is the name he was known by.

James and Sarah remained in Bethersden: in 1901 they were at The Street, 1911 Wilk’s Cottages, 1921 at 4 St Peters Row, and 1939 at Prospect Cottages. James’ occupation is shown as agricultural labourer (or some variation thereof) in all of these censuses, up until 1939 when he is recorded as “General Labourer Retired”.

He died in 1954.

Songs

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Peter Kennedy

Peter Douglas Kennedy, 1922–2006

Peter Kennedy’s parents were both at the heart of the folk music establishment. His father, Douglas Kennedy, was part of the English Folk Dance Society demonstration team before the First World War, and succeeded Cecil Sharp as Director of the EFDS – and subsequently the merged EFDSS. Peter’s mother Helen was the sister of Maud Karpeles and, like her sister, had been closely involved with Sharp’s folk dance revival, and a founder member of the EFDS.

Peter joined the staff of the EFDSS aged 26, in 1948, working first in the North East, and then in the West Country. In 1950-51 he worked with the American collector Alan Lomax to record material for the England LP in Lomax’s World Library of Folk and Primitive Music series on Columbia Records. Then in 1952 the BBC appointed him one of two principal fieldworkers on its newly established Folk Music and Dialect Recording Scheme. In this capacity he made hundreds of recordings of traditional singers and musicians all over the British Isles. These included recordings of Albert Beale and Charlie Scamp, made in 1954 in the company of his aunt Maud Karpeles.

Kennedy sent a detailed report of his Kent trip to Miss Marie Slocombe at the BBC. She had founded the BBC Sound Archive in 1936, had been appointed Sound Recordings Librarian in 1941 and, as a member of the EFDSS, was a keen supporter of the BBC’s Folk Music and Dialect Recording Scheme in the 1950s.

Kennedy’s report is available to view via the Peter Kennedy Archive, at https://www.peterkennedyarchive.org/1954-2/kent-1954/. It commences

Tuesday 14th January

Picked up Miss M. Karpeles and drove to B.H. [Broadcasting House] to collect Midget Tapes. Thence to Greenwich Pier to enquire after Mr. Richards, shanty-singer. Had left and was last heard of in Cutty Sark exhibition. To Cranbrook and then to see Mr. and Mrs. Henry Scamp at Goldwell Farm, near Biddenham.  Recorded from Albert Beale at Kenardington, Near Ashford:-

FMK 321 (15″)  The Bailiff’s Daughter (some mistakes) – 1’40”

                        In London’s Fair City (Villikens and his Dinah) – 1’50”

                        The Limerick Ditty – 1’30”

                        The Frog and the Mouse – Intro 0’15” (Edit out talk in between) 1’35”

                                                (…”You see you’ve got to get it in” quick out)

FMK 322 (7½”) The Moon Shines Bright (Carol) – 1’35”

                        Where are you Going to My Pretty Maid? – 1’15”

                        Toast: “Beef when you’re hungry.…” – 0’15”

                        The Dark-Eyed Sailor (1/2 way in) – 1’55”

Goldwell Farm is actually on the Tenterden Road, to the South East of Biddenden.

The comments such as “Edit out talk in between” are presumably notes to assist when using the recordings on Kennedy’s As I Roved Out radio programme. The report continued

Friday 15th January

To Mrs. Stanley (Bird) living in a caravan on Mrs. Stern’s farm, 3, Chimneys, Betenham, near Sissinghurst. She and her daughter Peg both had tonsilitis but we got names of large number of songs that she knew. Her life story would be well worth recording. She gave us address of her sister Mrs. Smith, Melton Meadows, Melton, Woodbridge, Suffolk. Her husband, Joe, plays fiddle and melodeon and names of other relations in Kent to whom we went the following day.

“Betenham” is in fact Bettenham, about half a mile from the Three Chimneys public house.

The Mrs Smith referred to is Phoebe Smith, née Scamp, whom Kennedy would record in July 1956.

Saturday 16th January to Sunday 17th January

To Mr and Mrs. Hilden, behind Denaway Cafe at bottom of hill down from Detling Aerodrome before Sittingbourne. Then to Scamps at Lower Halstow and then to Bill Scamp at Tonge, who also had a bad throat. Finally to the Scamps at Chartham Hatch.

 Recorded Charlie Scamp at The Royal Oak [Chartham Hatch]

Kennedy recorded seven songs from Charlie Scamp: ‘Barbary Ellen’, ‘Young Leonard’, ‘Father come Father come build Me a Boat’, ‘A Blacksmith Courted Me’, ‘The Folkestone Murder’, ‘How Old Are you my Pretty Fair Maid?’ and ‘Romany Song’. He also recorded Charlie and Ted Scamp talking Romany, but the recording session in the pub was brought to an abrupt end:

This last recording was interrupted by a police raid! So returned to the encampment. Ted Scamp would be prepared to find people to record Circus, Fairground and Tramp Slang. Rose Matthews in adjoining caravan should also be recorded.

The trip concluded with Kennedy and his aunt making more contacts, but failing to make any further recordings:

Monday 18th January

To the “Sun-in-the-Wood” at Lower Halstow, where we recoded Oliver Scamp, but he had also had a bad cold and was not up to it, but we would like to return and record himself, his son, Oliver and his little daughter Sylvia.

Returned to London and delivered Miss Karpeles to her house.

Clearly it was not Kennedy’s fault that several of the singers he encountered were suffering from winter ailments. And given just how many recordings he did make across the length and breadth of the country, it would be churlish to complain that – so far as one can tell – he never returned to record Bill or Oliver Scamp, nor to record Mrs Stanley’s life story. It is nevertheless frustrating that these opportunities were lost.

Between 1953 and 1958 Kennedy presented the Sunday morning BBC radio series As I Roved Out. In contrast to the earlier Country Magazine, which had used trained singers to deliver songs collected by Francis Collinson, on As I Roved Out Kennedy played his own field recordings of country singers.

Many of Kennedy’s field recordings were issued commercially – for example on the 10 LPs in The Folk Songs Of Britain series issued on Caedmon in the USA, and subsequently by Topic in the UK, on his own Folktrax releases and, since his death, by Topic in their Voice of the People series. Some of Kennedy’s recordings of both Albert Beale and Charlie Scamp have featured on these releases. His archive is now held by the British Library, who were also responsible for the Peter Kennedy website at https://www.peterkennedyarchive.org/ which provides access to the reports he compiled on his collecting activities for the BBC.

Kennedy was a prolific and important collector of folk songs, tunes and dances, but his reputation was sullied somewhat by the rather proprietorial attitude he took towards the material he had collected (claiming copyright not just on the recordings, but on the songs themselves), the notoriously poor production values of his Folktrax cassettes and CDs, and the fact that he was not averse to doctoring field recordings before releasing them.

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Alice Travers

Alice Borgström Travers, 1893-1970

There are 3 copies of the carol ‘Lazerus’ (‘Come All You Worthy Christian Men’) in Francis Collinson’s collection. Two of these are clearly in Collinson’s own hand, and are labelled “Collected from Mrs. Lurcock of Bredgar, Kent, and noted down by Miss Alice Travers of Bredgar”. The third (COL/5/36D) is in a different hand – probably that of Miss Travers. There are no other records in the Roud Index which mention Miss Travers, so it may be that this was the only song she ever collected.

Alice Travers was born 17th September 1893, and baptised at Chelsham, Surrey on 29th October. At the time of the 1901 census the family was living at ‘Woottonga’, Warlingham, Surrey. Besides Alice there were 2 other daughters and 2 sons. The household also included a nurse, cook, parlour maid and house maid. Her father, James L. Travers, was shown as “Wholesale Grocer” in 1901, and as “Merchant retired” in 1911. By 1921 they had set up residence at Bredgar House, Bredgar, with a slightly slimmed down household – now just a coachman and a cook. Mr Travers was listed as “Director & Manager Of Ltd Co / Merchant retired”. His obituary in 1924 related that the family had moved to Bredgar from Warlingham in 1919, noting that “Members of the family had identified themselves with the parochial life of the village”1. Alice Travers seems to have been particularly involved with the Women’s Institute – in 1960 the East Kent Gazette reported that she had been producing plays for the Bredgar WI for about 40 years2.

It may well be that she knew Mrs Lurcock through the WI. We don’t know when she noted down the carol – was it shortly before sending a copy to Francis Collinson, or some years earlier? We don’t actually know when she sent her transcription to Collinson, but it’s a safe bet that this was at some point after the BBC’s Country Magazine came on the air in May 1942.

The 1939 Register listed Alice Travers as a smallholder, living at Cedar Cottage, Bexon Lane, Bredgar. She died on 27th January 1970.

An exchange in the local newspaper, the East Kent Gazette, in 1947 provides a nice snapshot of the differing views of post-war Britain held by members of the monied classes, and those with, perhaps, a better understanding of the needs of the population at large. On 8th November 1947, under the headline “ROYAL WEDDING PRESENT”, the newspaper passed on a message from Councillor F.J. Millen, chairman of the Sittingbourne and Milton Urban District Council, that the fund to purchase a wedding gift for the future Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip would be closing in a few days. The editor also reproduced a sentence from a letter sent in by Miss Travers “alluding to the attitude of some members of the local Council”, saying “I hope that when the present is sent to Princess Elizabeth it will be made clear that it comes from the loyal section of the community only”.

The following week, 14th November, there was a robust response from Councillor W. Wyllie, asking “Do you honestly think that there is only one way to demonstrate loyalty, and this is to subscribe money to a presentation?”. The councillor makes it clear that he – or quite possibly she – has not subscribed to the fund; but says they “have other views on this matter which I am sure must tend to show that there is a certain amount of loyalty in my make-up”. These are 1) having volunteered to serve in the Royal Navy in war and peace, 2) “I have given some years to the training of boys to become good citizens, and seamen in the Royal Navy”, 3) “I have given my son to the service of his country for the next fourteen years” (in the RAF), and 4) “I have also been employed in the making of guns (when most required) so that we should destroy the enemies of this island”. The writer suggests there will be many others in the area who have not subscribed, but “can lay a higher claim to being more loyal than I”, and reiterates what, presuambly, they had said in Council, that “the mothers of Sittingbourne and Milton require a maternity home far more than H.R.H. requires this presentation. I have only mentioned a maternity home, but there are lots of other necessities required in this locality”.

  1. East Kent Gazette, 12 January 1924 ↩︎
  2. East Kent Gazette, 25 November 1960 ↩︎
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Mrs Lurcock

In Francis Collinson’s collection the carol ‘Lazerus’ is recorded as “Collected from Mrs. Lurcock of Bredgar, Kent, and noted down by Miss Alice Travers of Bredgar”. Lurcock is a common surname in that part of Kent, and there is no indication of when the song was noted down by Miss Travers – although the chances are that she wrote it down and sent it to Collinson at some point after May 1942, when the BBC’s Country Magazine programme was first aired. It’s not possible to be 100% sure of the identity of the singer, but the most likely candidate is

Ann Flosy Lurcock, née Drury, 1884-1988

Born on 8th August 1884, her birth record has her as Ann Flosy Drury, although when baptised at St James’, Sheldwich, on 24th August her name was recorded as “Anne Florence”. All subsequent official records have her as Ann without an ‘e’, and where her middle name is given in full it’s never “Florence”, but always “Flosy” or “Flosey”.

Her parents were Charles Drury, a farm labourer, and Keziah née Bramble, and in 1891 they were living in North Street, Sheldwich. By 1901 they had moved to Bunce Court Cottage, Otterden. Ann was at that point the eldest of four children, although ultimately there would be seven children; her father was working as a carter on a farm.

The 1911 census shows Ann working as a “Kitchen maid domestic”, for a Scottish couple, Mr and Mrs Simson, at Ickleford Manor, Ickleford, in Hertfordshire.

She married James Lurcock, a labourer, and native of Bredgar, on 13th May 1916. He appears to have enlisted in the RAF in July 1918, but by the time of the 1921 census they were living together in Bexon Lane, Bredgar. From local newspaper reports they appear to have participated in events run by the Bredgar Cottage Gardeners’ Association, and to have attended whist drives and dances held at the Red Triangle Hut (Mrs Lurcock came third and won a tea strainer in December 1923!).

A newspaper article celebrating her 103rd birthday (East Kent Gazette 13th August 1987) gave details of her life:

She does not claim to hold the key to eternal youth, but believes hard work and a drop of brandy might have helped her to keep going!

Her memory is still sharp and she can recall her full life in minute detail.

She was born the eldest of seven children at the family home in Badlesmere. As a fashionable youngster she remembers having a string of admirers and modern ideas about women at work. She herself worked below stairs as a cook in Hertfordshire and spent a year cooking at a stud farm In Ireland.

Mrs. Lurcock said: “A lot of the people I worked for asked if my family minded me working so far away from home, but I really enjoyed it. I suppose it now sounds a bit like ‘Upstairs Downstairs’ with butlers, footmen and all.”

Although life was hard, Mrs. Lurcock admits there was time to relax at local dances.

She remembers slipping into tight-fitting ‘”hobble skirts” to tempt the lads at the local hop.

And it was at a dance in Bredgar that she met her husband James, who lived in Bexon Lane. They married on 13 May 1916 at Sittingbourne Register Office.

The couple lived in Bredgar and had no children. After her husband died in 1932, Mrs. Lurcock went back to work as a lady’s companion.

Later she shared a home in Rainham with her sister until the latter’s death two years ago. She then moved to Court Regis old people’s home in Milton where she shared her birthday celebrations with relatives. staff and friends.

She died the following year, on 2nd June 1988.

Songs

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Maud Karpeles

Maud Pauline Karpeles, 1885-1976

Maud Karpeles was the daughter of Joseph Nicolaus Karpeles, a tea-merchant who had been born in Hamburg, but settled in London and became a British citizen. Thanks to her father she was of independent means, which allowed her to devote her life to folk music. With her sister Helen, she became involved in the English folk dance revival led by Cecil Sharp; both were involved with the foundation of the English Folk Dance Society in 1911. During the First World War she accompanied Sharp on his song collecting trips to the Appalachians. She was more than just a secretary. She provided Sharp, who suffered from frequent and varied medical issues, with invaluable support, both at home and abroad, and also became effectively part of the Sharp family. She in return was a lifelong disciple of Sharp, defending his legacy and promoting his views.

She held roles both with the English Folk Dance Society and its successor, the English Folk Dance and Song Society. After the Second World War she played a key role in establishing and running the International Folk Music Council, and remained active in the folk music world right up to her death at the age of 90.

In 1953 she embarked on a song collecting expedition in Kent. Details of this trip can be found in the VWML archive catalogue, under the heading “Folk Song Collecting Expedition Kent October 12th – 17th 1953” (MK/1/2/4907). This report tells us that Miss Karpeles stayed with Violet Rumney (a school friend), at Sissinghurst from October 12th to 17th and ventured out each day – Miss Rumney or her sister driving. Karpeles estimated that they covered about 400 miles during the week, making enquiries at the following villages:

  • Headcorn
  • Smarden
  • Warehorne
  • Ham Street
  • Appledore
  • Stone
  • Rye Harbour
  • Kenardington
  • Sissinghurst
  • Frittenden
  • Cranbrook
  • Goudhurst
  • Binningden [sic – probably Benenden]
  • Pluckley
  • Harrietsham
  • Snargate
  • Brinzett [sic]
  • Brookland
  • New Romney (not exhaustively)
  • Dungeness
  • Lydd
  • Ivychurch
  • Bethersden
  • High Halden
  • Staplehurst
  • Bethersden
  • High Halden
  • Staplehurst
  • Beckley
  • Bettenham

She wrote that she had recorded a version of ‘John Barleycorn’ from Dave Wicken (actually Dave Wickens), at Smarden. And five songs from Albert Beale at Kenardington – as she notes “son and brother of singers from whom Cecil Sharp noted songs”, and it seems likely that she had deliberately sought out any surviving relatives of Sharp’s “informants”.

The report continues

I interviewed  some gipsies, name of Stanley, at Bettenham. They know a number of songs, but I could not ask them to sing  as there had just been a death in the family. I arranged to pay them a visit later on.

I found a number of people who remembered hearing some of the songs, from parents, grandparents, or other old people in the neighbourhood, but they had not themselves learned them.

Contrary to expectation Romney Marsh seemed to be further away from the tradition than the “upland” regions. I suspect this is because they are too isolated.

I found a greater understanding of the type of song I required than is usually the case. This may be due to Frank Collinson’s Country Magazine contributions.

She returned to Kent in January 1954, in the company of her nephew Peter Kennedy, and together they made recordings of Albert Beale and the gipsy Charlie Scamp.

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