George Sainton Kaye Butterworth, 1885-1916
The composer George Butterworth, a close friend of Ralph Vaughan Williams, joined the Folk-Song Society in 1906. He collected several dozen songs between 1906 and 1913, in counties including Herefordshire, Shropshire, Norfolk and Oxfordshire but, especially, in Sussex – it was a Sussex version of ‘The Banks of Green Willow’ which provided the inspiration for one of his best-known compositions. He was also a founding member of the English Folk Dance Society. He collected morris tunes and dances, and was a key member of the EFDS demonstration team.
He made only one collecting trip to Kent, noting three songs in the Minster Workhouse in September 1910:
There are of course two places called Minster in Kent, and both had a workhouse. However it seems most likely that he was following in the footsteps of his friend Francis Jekyll, who had collected two songs in the Sheppey Union Workhouse the previous month, in August 1910.
Regrettably, Butterworth did not record the name of the singer of these three songs – indeed we don’t have any indication if all three were sung by the same person. This failure to note down their name was disrespectful, to say the least. Noone entered the workhouse willingly, and becoming an inmate brought shame, and a loss of personal dignity. It might have been some small recompense if the poor singer’s name had been recorded for posterity, alongside their songs.
Butterworth enlisted as an officer in the 13th Durham Light Infantry at the outbreak of World War I. He was recommended for the Military Cross on three occasions, and was awarded the medal twice – the second time in recognition of his conduct on the morning 5th August 1916, at Pozieres during the first battle of the Somme This was also the day he met his death, and he was buried at the front. He was one of three members of the pre-war EFDS demonstration team who failed to return from the war.
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