# Kent Trad: songs sung in Kent


## Posts

- [Polly Scamp](https://kenttrad.org/polly-scamp/): Mary “Polly” Bird, née Scamp, 1900–1891 Polly Scamp was an older sister of Phoebe and Charlie Scamp. At least one of the songs in Phoebe’s repertoire – ‘Higher Germany’ – came from Polly. The identification of Polly with Mary Scamp comes from family historian Calum Mendham via the Findagrave website. She was born on 4th February 1900, and was probably the Polly Scamp registered in the Blean district in the first quarter of that year. But there is also a baptism record for a Mary Scamp which appears to relate to the same person. This is from Warehorne, dated 5th... Continue Reading →
- [Charlie Scamp](https://kenttrad.org/charlie-scamp/): Charles Scamp, 1908–1988 Charlie Scamp was born on 14th February 1908, and baptised at St Mary’s, Chilham on 25th February. He was the son of William (Bill) Scamp and his second wife Ann (or Mary Ann), née Jones. He had at least three older brothers, and a number of half brothers and sisters, the children of Bill’s first wife Louisa. The family have proved elusive when looking for them in the 1911 census. In the 1921 census they were listed under their alternative surname of Matthews. They were encamped at Mystole, near Chilham; William Matthews was listed as “General Dealer”,... Continue Reading →
- [Ken Stubbs](https://kenttrad.org/ken-stubbs/): Kenneth Charles Stubbs, 1923–2008 Ken Stubbs was born in Beckenham on 18th November 1923. The September 1939 Register found him, a few couple of months short of his sixteenth birthday, living at 115 Ravenscroft Road in Bromley; he was listed as an     Engineer’s Apprentice. His obituary in the Folk Music Journal relates that After attending the Beckenham Technical College and Art College, Ken was apprenticed in 1940 as an engraver and lettering artist to the London firm of Charles Skipper and East Ltd, a career that was terminated when he arrived one morning to find the premises had been... Continue Reading →
- [Derby Smith](https://kenttrad.org/derby-smith/): Derby Smith, 1947–2005 (?) Derby Smith was the son of Jasper and Priscilla Smith, and named after his grandfather. He was probably the Derby Smith whose birth was registered in the Surrey Mid Eastern district in the fourth quarter of 1947. Jasper and Derby were camping near Epsom in Surrey in the mid-1970s when they both attended a recording session with Mike Yates. Yates relates that Derby Smith, one of Jasper’s sons, came with his father to one of the recording sessions at Cecily Taylor’s house and it was then that we recorded his superb protest song Will There Be Any... Continue Reading →
- [Minty Smith, Levi Smith and Jasper Smith](https://kenttrad.org/minty-smith-levi-smith-and-jasper-smith/): Introduction This article deals with the Romany Gypsy singer Minty Smith, and two of her brothers, Levi and Jasper Smith. Rather than give each person a separate web page, I have covered all three together here, since their lives were so closely intertwined – not just as children, but in adult life too, they often travelled together or were encamped not far from each other. That is one reason why this page is so long. The other is the wealth of sources in which they appear. I have quoted at length from an interview with Jasper recorded in the mid-1960s.... Continue Reading →
- [Lord Randal](https://kenttrad.org/lord-randal/): Douglas Tobin Collected by S. Elizabeth Bird ‘Lord Randal’ in Kent: The Meaning and Context of a Ballad Variant, Folklore, Vol. 96, No. 2 (1985), pp. 248-252, https://www.jstor.org/stable/1259648 Roud 10, Child 12 “When performing the song, the informant usually stresses the third line of each stanza  heavily and melodramatically, until the final stanza, which takes on a slightly maudlin  tone”. S. Elizabeth Bird had this from her father-in-law, Douglas Tobin. She noted that “I have heard him sing the song often”. A version of the classic Child Ballad ‘Lord Randal’, it is closely related to the variant usually known as... Continue Reading →
- [Douglas Tobin](https://kenttrad.org/douglas-tobin/): Stephen Douglas Tobin, 5 February 1922–5 July 2008 In 1985 the anthropologist S. Elizabeth Bird published an article in Folklore entitled ‘Lord Randal in Kent: The Meaning and Context of a Ballad Variant’. The version of the ballad which she discusses was one she had heard sung by her father-in-law “Douglas Tobin, 61, of Bath, England, who was born and grew up in Ramsgate, Kent”. He was born on 5th February 1922, the son of John Joseph Tobin and Alice, née Porter, and his birth was registered in the Thanet District. John Tobin had been born on 1st December 1880... Continue Reading →
- [Ambrose Collard](https://kenttrad.org/ambrose-collard/): Ambrose Collard, 1885–1954 The name of Ambrose Collard was one which came up when George Frampton started researching singers with whom George Spicer would have come into contact during his years working on farms near Dover, before the Second World War. I wish to thank you for printing an appeal to local former singers and musicians from the time before TV took over a more social entertainment. Two people took the trouble to reply to me. Ted Baker (formerly of Alkham) told me of his grandfather, Ambrose Collard, and sent me a number of his songs. Ambrose Collard is also... Continue Reading →
- [Alf Claringbould](https://kenttrad.org/alf-claringbould/): Alfred James Claringbould, 1894–1944 Alf Claringbould was born on 20th August 1894. His mother was Emily, née Mockett. His father Frederick, who had previously worked for the Dover coal merchants Hawksfield and Sons, had been the licensee of the Swingate Inn – on the Deal Road, a couple of miles out of Dover – since 1888, and would remain there until 1911, when his eldest son William took over the licence. On leaving the Swingate, Frederick appears to have set up as a farmer nearby, at Westcliffe Farm. The 1911 census shows Frederick and Emily living here with five sons... Continue Reading →
- [Fred Morris](https://kenttrad.org/fred-morris/): Frederick William Morris, 1882–1960 When recorded in the 1970s, the singer George Spicer named Fred Morris of Martin Mill as his source for the song ‘I wish there was no prisons’. Fred was born on 10th September 1882, and baptised at St Augustine’s church, East Langdon, on 29th October. His father, also Frederick, was an agricultural labourer. He had married Hannah Elizabeth Marsh – like him from the small village of East Langdon – in 1874, and the 1881 census found them living with two young children, and his 67 year old father, Henry. Frederick died at the age of... Continue Reading →
- [John Brune](https://kenttrad.org/john-brune/): John Brun, 1926–2001 Anatol Johannes Brun was born into a Jewish family in Austria, and came to Britain as a teenage refugee shortly before the outbreak of the Second World War. He became a naturalised British citizen on 19th July 1948, at which point he was recorded as a student of Forestry living at Dartington in Devon. Advertisements in The Bookseller show John’s father Theodore Brun based in Museum Street, London WC1 (24th September 1949) and in Fulwood Place, London WC1 (10th July 1954), putting out “limited de luxe editions” of specialist books; and later (9th February 1957) offering litho... Continue Reading →
- [The Irish Lass](https://kenttrad.org/the-irish-lass/): From Ike Harvey Transcribed by David Harvey from a handwritten note in pencil by Ike Harvey. George Frampton, “I don’t know if this is actually a folk song”: The Life and Music of George Spicer (1906-1981), Part 2: The West Langdon Years, 1928-35, Musical Traditions, 2012, https://www.mustrad.org.uk/articles/g_spice2.htm Roud 44890 “I have copied this as to spelling and punctuation, more or less as Ike wrote it” – David Harvey. Steve Gardham has identified this as a version of ‘Paddy Casey’, which appeared in various broadside printings in the 1870s. See for example the version published by the Poet’s Box (Glasgow), 30th... Continue Reading →
- [Ike Harvey](https://kenttrad.org/ike-harvey/): Isaac James Harvey, 1867–1947 The singer George Spicer, recorded in Sussex in the 1970s, learned a number of songs when working on farms in East Kent in the 1920s and 1930s. Amongst these were songs which George picked up from singers in The Rose at West Langdon, including ‘The Cunning Cobbler’ (Roud 174), which was sung by the landlord, Ike Harvey.  Ike was also related by marriage to another singer, Jack Goodban. Ike was born on 28th February 1867 and baptised at Ringwould on 14th April. His parents were William Quested Harvey, and Mary Ann Elizabeth Harvey, née Hopper. Their... Continue Reading →
- [Jack Goodban](https://kenttrad.org/jack-goodban/): John Wilfred Goodban, 1910–1988 Jack Goodban was born on 9th April 1910. His mother was Alice, née Mockett; his father Thomas was a waggoner on a farm. The family lived at Martin, near East Langdon, about 4 miles from Dover. When the Second World War began, Jack was still living with his parents and his younger brother Thomas, at “Bungalow, Martin Vale, St Margaret’s At Cliffe”. Both he and Thomas were cowmen. Jack’s sister-in-law Irene “recalled [Jack] as being a cowman at Reach Farm, St Margarets-at-Cliffe, working from the War onwards for Gilbert Mitchell”. Jack married Dorothy Florence Harvey at... Continue Reading →
- [A sailor coming home on leave](https://kenttrad.org/a-sailor-coming-home-on-leave/): From “an old seaman” Collected by Derek Sarjeant in a Chatham pub Sing 7:4 (Jan/Feb 1963) p.44 Roud 60 When printed in Sing, the accompanying note said “Collected by Derek Sarjeant in a Chatham pub, the tune is surely one of the most persistent found in oral tradition. And so is much of the lyric too”. Derek Serjeant recorded this song on his Man of Kent EP (Oak, 1963), where the liner notes say “Derek collected this song from an old seaman in one of the Medway Towns”.
- [Derek Sarjeant](https://kenttrad.org/derek-sarjeant/): Derek Stanley William Sarjeant, 1930–2018 Born and brought up in Chatham, Derek Sarjeant started playing the trumpet at the age of 15. He played with various jazz bands in Kent and formed a group called the Golden Gate Jazzmen. He was then swept up in the skiffle craze of the 1950s, took up the guitar, and started singing in a skiffle group. He started the first folk club in Kent, at Chatham, in 1956. In the early 1960s, he moved to Surbiton in Surrey to take up a management post for the South Eastern Electricity Board. Here he set up... Continue Reading →
- [Nip Bayley](https://kenttrad.org/nip-bayley/): Edward George Bayley, 1870–1937 Charlie Bridger learned at least three songs from a singer he referred to as ‘Nip’ Bailey. One of these was ‘The Birds upon the tree’, which was also mentioned by Woodchurch resident Reg Pellet (1893–1986) as a song he remembered having been sung in the village in his youth. Reg said it used to be sung by a man called George Bailey, aka ‘Old Nip’, and “they did pull his leg over it”. ‘Nip’ was described by Reg Pellett as a “good all-round farm-hand, hop dryer, hedger and ditcher”, who once claimed that if he “could... Continue Reading →
- [Charlie Bridger](https://kenttrad.org/charlie-bridger/): Charles Albert Bridger, 1913–1988 Charlie was born on 9th July 1913, and baptised at St Mary’s church, Kenardington, on 10th August 1913. His parents were Charles Bridger, a farm labourer, and his wife Gertrude Mabel Bridger, née Bailey (or Bayley); their residence at the time was given as Spring Cottages, Kenardington. Charles senior had been born in 1882 at Selling. Possibly his father had got employment on a farm at Selling that year: the family were shown living at Kenardington in the 1881 and 1891 censuses, and all of Charles’ siblings were born at Warehorne or Kenardington – indeed Charles... Continue Reading →
- [Haul away Joe](https://kenttrad.org/haul-away-joe/): Harry Johnson Collected by James Madison Carpenter, Royal Alfred, Belvedere, 1928  James Madison Carpenter Collection – sound recording (JMC/1/11/78) Roud 809
- [Whiskey Johnny](https://kenttrad.org/whiskey-johnny/): Harry Johnson Collected by James Madison Carpenter, Royal Alfred, Belvedere, 1928  James Madison Carpenter MSS Collection (JMC/1/5/4/A, JMC/1/1/1/A) Roud 651
- [Stormalong](https://kenttrad.org/stormalong/): Harry Johnson Collected by James Madison Carpenter, Royal Alfred, Belvedere, 1928  James Madison Carpenter MSS Collection (JMC/1/1/4/C) Roud 216
- [Blow the Man Down](https://kenttrad.org/blow-the-man-down-johnson/): Harry Johnson Collected by James Madison Carpenter, Royal Alfred, Belvedere, 1928  James Madison Carpenter Collection (JMC/1/5/4/A, JMC/1/1/4/A) Roud 2624, Roud 13026 There are surviving cylinder recordings of the shanty, which can be heard via the VWML Archive Catalogue: The two recordings are in different keys, but in other respects appear to be the same. None of the recordings includes the Humpty Dumpty verses transcribed by Carpenter. The words are also completely different to those which Carpenter noted from “The Bo’sn” – see ‘Blow The Man Down‘.
- [The Bo’sn](https://kenttrad.org/the-bosn/): When collecting shanties and sea songs at the Royal Alfred home for merchant seamen at Belvedere, in the summer of 1928, James Madison Carpenter recorded ‘Blow the man down’ being sung by Harry Johnson. In Carpenter’s transcription of the tune, the singer is given as “Bos’n Johnson”. Carpenter also has a transcription of the words of  ‘Blow the man down’ ascribed simply to “The Bo’sn”. It seems quite likely that these actually refer to the same person. Songs
- [Harry Johnson](https://kenttrad.org/harry-johnson/): In the summer of 1928 James Madison Carpenter collected four shanties and two other sea  songs from Harry Johnson, a resident at the Royal Alfred home for merchant seamen at Belvedere. Carpenter’s Dictaphone recordings survive for four of Mr Johnson’s songs, and can be heard on the VWML website. On his transcription of one of these, ‘Blow the man down’, Carpenter noted the song as having been collected from “Bos’n Johnson”. It could be that Harry Johnson the same singer identified elsewhere in Carpenter’s notes simply as “The Bo’sn”. We have no further information about the singer. The England &... Continue Reading →
- [Blow the Man Down](https://kenttrad.org/blow-the-man-down-bosn/): “The Bo’sn” Collected by James Madison Carpenter, Royal Alfred, Belvedere, 1928  James Madison Carpenter MSS Collection (JMC/1/1/4/A) Roud 2624
- [According to the Act (Lime Juice Act)](https://kenttrad.org/according-to-the-act/): Mr Hill Collected by James Madison Carpenter, Royal Alfred, Belvedere, 1928  James Madison Carpenter MSS Collection (JMC/1/1/4/A, JMC/1/5/4/A) Roud 8341 The Merchant Shipping Act 1867 made it mandatory for merchant ships embarked on a long journey to carry, and distribute daily to the crew, lime or lemon juice, or other anti-scorbutics, as a preventative against scurvy.
- [Mr Hill](https://kenttrad.org/mr-hill/): In the summer of 1928 James Madison Carpenter, collecting from residents at the Royal Alfred home for merchant seamen at Belvedere, noted a single song from a Mr Hill. No further information was recorded about the singer. Songs According to the Act (Lime Juice Act) (Roud 8341)
- [Shamrock Shores](https://kenttrad.org/shamrock-shores/): William Gaul Collected by James Madison Carpenter, Belvedere, 1928  James Madison Carpenter MSS Collection (JMC/1/5/4/A) Roud O
- [Australia for me](https://kenttrad.org/australia-for-me/): William Gaul Collected by James Madison Carpenter, Belvedere, 1928  Tune: James Madison Carpenter MSS Collection (JMC/1/5/4/A) Words: James Madison Carpenter, Forecastle Songs and Chanties (Unpublished thesis), p123 Roud 0
- [Hawksbury Banks (Maids of Australia)](https://kenttrad.org/hawksbury-banks-maids-of-australia/): William Gaul Collected by James Madison Carpenter, Belvedere, 1928  James Madison Carpenter MSS Collection (JMC/1/5/4/A, JMC/1/1/4/D) Roud 1872
- [Green Burgee](https://kenttrad.org/green-burgee/): William Gaul Collected by James Madison Carpenter, Belvedere, 1928  James Madison Carpenter MSS Collection (JMC/1/5/4/A, JMC/1/1/4/D) Roud 7989 The OED defines burgee as “A small tapered flag or pennant, three-cornered (or swallow-tailed), used by cutters, yachts, etc., generally as a distinguishing flag”.
- [Paddy Works on the Railway](https://kenttrad.org/paddy-works-on-the-railway/): William Gaul Collected by James Madison Carpenter, Belvedere, 1928  James Madison Carpenter MSS Collection (JMC/1/5/4/A, JMC/1/1/4/B) Roud 208
- [William 'Paddy' Gaul](https://kenttrad.org/william-paddy-gaul/): In the summer of 1928 James Madison Carpenter collected eight shanties and other songs from William ‘Paddy’ Gaul, a resident at the Royal Alfred home for merchant seamen at Belvedere. Carpenter’s notes for ‘Be Handy, Boys’ record that William Gaul was born in Waterford, Ireland, and spent forty five years at sea. The singer may well be the William Gaul whose death was registered in the Dartford district in the third quarter of 1928 (i.e. shortly after his songs were collected by Carpenter). His age was given as 70. In which case, he is almost certainly the William Gaul, born... Continue Reading →
- [Tiger Bay](https://kenttrad.org/tiger-bay/): William Gaul Collected by James Madison Carpenter, Belvedere, 1928  James Madison Carpenter MSS Collection (JMC/1/5/4/A, JMC/1/1/1/E) Roud 2432, Roud 16872
- [Lucianna (I’m Just Gone Over The Mountain)](https://kenttrad.org/lucianna-im-just-gone-over-the-mountain/): William Gaul Collected by James Madison Carpenter, Belvedere, 1928  James Madison Carpenter MSS Collection (JMC/1/5/4/A, JMC/1/1/1/C) Roud 9127
- [Be Handy Boys](https://kenttrad.org/be-handy-boys/): William Gaul Collected by James Madison Carpenter, Belvedere, 1928  James Madison Carpenter MSS Collection (JMC/1/1/1/A, JMC/1/5/4/A) Roud 814
- [Blow Boys Blow](https://kenttrad.org/blow-boys-blow/): Roderick Enderson Collected by James Madison Carpenter, Royal Alfred, Belvedere, 1928  James Madison Carpenter MSS Collection (JMC/1/5/4/A) Roud 2624
- [Down in the Meadows (The Meadows Down Below)](https://kenttrad.org/down-in-the-meadows-the-meadows-down-below/): Roderick Enderson Collected by James Madison Carpenter, Royal Alfred, Belvedere, 1928  James Madison Carpenter MSS Collection (JMC/1/5/4/A, JMC/1/1/1/A) Roud 22910  “Learned chantey from old cockney, Blumire, sixty years old… A spirited capstan chantey with a swinging melodious air, does not occur in any collections that I have examined”.
- [Heave Away](https://kenttrad.org/heave-away/): Roderick Enderson Collected by James Madison Carpenter, Royal Alfred, Belvedere, 1928  James Madison Carpenter MSS Collection (JMC/1/5/4/B) Roud 616 Carpenter typed the first two verses, but the bawdy verses which follow were handwritten.
- [Roderick Enderson](https://kenttrad.org/roderick-enderson/): In the summer of 1928 James Madison Carpenter collected three shanties from Roderick Enderson, a resident at the Royal Alfred home for merchant seamen at Belvedere. In his notes to Enderson’s song ‘Down in the meadows’ Carpenter noted that the singer had been born in America, had first shipped in 1871 (so one might assume that he had been born in the early 1850s), and had transferred to British ships in 1885. Songs
- [William Prosser](https://kenttrad.org/william-prosser/): In the summer of 1928 James Madison Carpenter collected ten shanties and other songs from William Prosser, a resident at the Royal Alfred home for merchant seamen at Belvedere. It is possible, although by no means certain, that the same singer had previously been visited by Cicely Fox Smith: her A book of shanties, published in 1927, contains a version of ‘The Stately Southerner’, for which she gives “Mr. Prosser” as a source for some of the words (although the tune printed is not the same as that noted by Carpenter).  We cannot be sure how old William Prosser was,... Continue Reading →
- [The Dreadnaught](https://kenttrad.org/the-dreadnaught/): William Prosser Collected by James Madison Carpenter, Royal Alfred, Belvedere, 1928   James Madison Carpenter MSS Collection (JMC/1/5/4/A, JMC/1/1/4/D) Roud 924
- [Maids of Australia](https://kenttrad.org/maids-of-australia/): William Prosser Collected by James Madison Carpenter, Royal Alfred, Belvedere, 1928  James Madison Carpenter MSS Collection (JMC/1/5/4/A, JMC/1/1/4/D) Roud 1872
- [Indian Lass (Far Distant Shore)](https://kenttrad.org/indian-lass-far-distant-shore/): William Prosser Collected by James Madison Carpenter, Royal Alfred, Belvedere, 1928   James Madison Carpenter MSS Collection (JMC/1/5/4/A, JMC/1/1/4/D) Roud 2326
- [Dark Eyed Sailor](https://kenttrad.org/dark-eyed-sailor/): William Prosser Collected by James Madison Carpenter, Royal Alfred, Belvedere, 1928   James Madison Carpenter MSS Collection (JMC/1/5/4/A, JMC/1/1/4/D) Roud 265
- [Banks of Newfoundland](https://kenttrad.org/banks-of-newfoundland/): William Prosser Collected by James Madison Carpenter, Royal Alfred, Belvedere, 1928   James Madison Carpenter MSS Collection (JMC/1/5/4/A, JMC/1/1/4/D) Roud 1812
- [Around Cape Horn](https://kenttrad.org/around-cape-horn/): William Prosser Collected by James Madison Carpenter, Royal Alfred, Belvedere, 1928   James Madison Carpenter MSS Collection (JMC/1/5/4/A, JMC/1/1/4/D) Roud 4706
- [Heave Away (We’re All Bound to Go)](https://kenttrad.org/heave-away-were-all-bound-to-go/): William Prosser Collected by James Madison Carpenter, Royal Alfred, Belvedere, 1928  James Madison Carpenter MSS Collection (JMC/1/5/4/A, JMC/1/1/4/B) Roud 616
- [Can't You Dance the Polka](https://kenttrad.org/cant-you-dance-the-polka/): William Prosser Collected by James Madison Carpenter, Royal Alfred, Belvedere, 1928  James Madison Carpenter MSS Collection (JMC/1/5/4/A, JMC/1/1/4/A) Roud 486
- [Fire Down Below](https://kenttrad.org/fire-down-below/): William Prosser Collected by James Madison Carpenter, Royal Alfred, Belvedere, 1928  James Madison Carpenter MSS Collection (JMC/1/5/4/A) Roud 813
- [Stately Southerner](https://kenttrad.org/stately-southerner/): William Prosser Collected by James Madison Carpenter, Royal Alfred, Belvedere, 1928  James Madison Carpenter MSS Collection (JMC/1/5/4/A) Roud 625 Carpenter did not note any words for this song. A full set of words, including two verses collected from a Mr Prosser – quite possibly William Prosser – appears in A book of shanties by Cicely Fox Smith, (Boston : Houghton Mifflin, 1927). Fox Smith wrote: This collection may fitly conclude with an example of the sort of sea song—as distinct from the shanty—the sailorman really liked in his hours of leisure. The kind of thing that passes muster with the... Continue Reading →
- [Cecil Sharp in Kent](https://kenttrad.org/cecil-sharp-in-kent/): Here’s a recording of a presentation I gave recently at the July meeting of the Traditional Song Forum, Cecil Sharp in Kent. This covers all of the collecting carried out by Cecil Sharp in the county but with a particular focus on his collecting in the Hamstreet area. As a postscript, I look at the version of ‘Polly Vaughan’ (Roud 166) which he didn’t actually collect in Kent, but which had been learned from an old man at Homestall near Doddington.
- [The Pretty Cabin Boy](https://kenttrad.org/the-pretty-cabin-boy/): From Harry Johnson Recorded by James Madison Carpenter, The Royal Alfred, Belvedere, 1928 James Madison Carpenter Collection: Disc Recordings (JMC/1/11/77, JMC/1/11/78) Roud 239 Carpenter’s recordings can be heard via the VWML Archive Catalogue:
- [James Madison Carpenter](https://kenttrad.org/james-madison-carpenter/): James Madison Carpenter, 1888–1983 Born near Booneville, Mississippi, in 1920 Carpenter enrolled at Harvard to begin a PhD in English, and it was here that he developed an interest in folk song. One of the professors in the English department was literary scholar and folklorist George Lyman Kittredge. While Kittredge’s ballad research was entirely library-based, he encouraged his graduate students to go out into the field and undertake collecting work – John Lomax had been another of his protegés. Kittredge acted as supervisor for Carpenter’s thesis, ‘Forecastle Songs and Chanties’, which earned him his doctorate in 1929. This was based... Continue Reading →
- [Bill Leader](https://kenttrad.org/bill-leader/): William Leader, 1929–2026 Born in New Jersey, his parents Bill and Lou were Londoners and the family returned to the UK in 1931. Ten years later the engineering firm for whom his father worked moved to Keighley in West Yorkshire, and it was here that Bill spent his teens and early twenties. Inheriting his father’s left wing political outlook, in the 1950s Bill sang with the Workers’ Music Association in Bradford, and sold WMA records sent up from London. In 1955 he moved to London to work for Films of Poland, part of the Polish Cultural Institute: It was part... Continue Reading →
- [Kent Trad presentation at the Traditional Song Forum](https://kenttrad.org/kent-trad-presentation-at-the-traditional-song-forum/): 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.
- [Stephen Sedley](https://kenttrad.org/stephen-sedley/): Sir Stephen John Sedley, 1939– Sir Stephen Sedley is a distinguished lawyer who has served as a High Court judge, a Lord Justice of Appeal (i.e. a judge of the Court of Appeal, the second highest level of judge in the courts of England and Wales), and a Visiting Professor of Law at the University of Oxford. He was called to the Bar in 1964. Prior to that, having graduated from Cambridge in 1961, he worked as a musician and translator (this is according to his entry in Who’s Who, where his recreations are listed as “carpentry, music, changing the... Continue Reading →
- [Dick Mount](https://kenttrad.org/dick-mount/): Richard John Mount, 1833–1915 In an article in the Folkestone, Hythe, Sandgate & Cheriton Herald for 6th October 1900, headed “HARVEST HOME AT NEWINGTON”, the regular columnist ‘Felix’ (W.G. Glanville) described the musical contributions which followed the meal and healths: Dick Mount, a farm hand of some seventy summers, in a twenty-verse song, told the story of a bashful swain and an innocent country lass, whilst another follower of the plough related in a ditty the doings of a certain little tailor of Dover, much to the amusement of the company. It’s not possible to positively identify the song which... Continue Reading →
- [Paul Carter](https://kenttrad.org/paul-carter/): Paul Carter, 1932–2012 As an 18 year old, Paul Carter worked on the door of Mick Mulligan’s jazz club in North Cheam. By the late 1950s he had developed an interest in folk song as well as jazz and, with Scotsman Bruce Dunnet (a follower of Ewan MacColl), was running a folk club, Folksong Unlimited, in a central London pub. Having worked for a while in Collector Records, a record shop in Charing Cross Road, he progressed to supervising recordings for the shop’s associated record label. Collector Records specialised in jazz, folk and blues, and put out just a few... Continue Reading →
- [Frank Purslow](https://kenttrad.org/frank-purslow/): Frank Purslow, né Chapman, 1926–2007 Born in Edgbaston, Frank’s early interest in folk song was reawakened when he moved to London after the Second World War – in particular by the singing of Ewan MacColl and Bert Lloyd, and their Ballads and Blues folk club. It was here that he heard his first traditional singer, Phoebe Smith, whom he subsequently recorded for Topic Records with Paul Carter. Frank regularly attended events at the EFDSS headquarters Cecil Sharp House, and volunteered in the Society’s Vaughan Williams Memorial Library. It was in the library that he encountered the songs which he recorded... Continue Reading →
- [Mike Yates](https://kenttrad.org/mike-yates/): Mike Yates, 1943– Mike Yates is one of the most important post-war collectors. He has recorded singers and musicians in Yorkshire, Scotland and, following in the footsteps of Cecil Sharp, in the Appalachian Mountains of the USA. But the majority of his recordings were made in Southern England, particularly among gypsies and travellers, and while he recorded relatively few singers in Kent itself, he made numerous recordings of singers with Kentish connections. Mike has written about how he came to be a collector in an article entitled ‘Time Has Made a Change – some reflections’ (Musical Traditions, 2021, https://www.mustrad.org.uk/articles/time-change.htm). His... Continue Reading →
- [Phoebe Smith](https://kenttrad.org/phoebe-smith/): Phoebe Smith née Scamp, 1913-2001 The Romany gypsy Phoebe Smith is widely regarded as one of the greatest English traditional singers to have been recorded. When recorded by folk song collectors, from the 1950s onwards, she was living with her husband Joe near Woodbridge in Suffolk. However she was born in Faversham, spent much of her early life in Kent, and acquired her repertoire of songs primarily from family members.. It is usually stated that she was born in Tanner Street (now Tanners Street), Faversham in 1913. Certainly her birth was registered in the first quarter of 1913, and she... Continue Reading →
- [Where are you going to, my pretty maid? (Dabbling in the dew)](https://kenttrad.org/where-are-you-going-to-my-pretty-maid-dabbling-in-the-dew/): From Albert Beale Recorded by Peter Kennedy and Maud Karpeles, Kenardington, 14th January 1954 BBC recording 21157 Roud 298
- [Toast: Beef when you're hungry](https://kenttrad.org/toast-beef-when-youre-hungry/): From Albert Beale Recorded by Peter Kennedy and Maud Karpeles, Kenardington, 14th January 1954 BBC recording 21157 Beef when you’re hungry Beer when you’re dry Feather bed to lay on And heaven when you die If you don’t like that you can have: Bread when you’re hungry Water when you’re dry Chaff bed to lay on And hell when you die
- [In London’s Fair City (Villikins and his Dinah)](https://kenttrad.org/in-londons-fair-city-villikins-and-his-dinah/): From Albert Beale Recorded by Peter Kennedy and Maud Karpeles, Kenardington, 14th January 1954 BBC recording 21156 Roud 271
- [A frog he would a-wooing go](https://kenttrad.org/a-frog-he-would-a-wooing-go/): From Albert Beale Recorded by Peter Kennedy and Maud Karpeles, Kenardington, 14th January 1954 BBC recording 21156 Roud 16
- [The Bailiff’s Daughter of Islington](https://kenttrad.org/the-bailiffs-daughter-of-islington/): From Albert Beale Recorded by Peter Kennedy and Maud Karpeles, Kenardington, 14th January 1954 BBC recording 21156 Roud 483, Child 105
- [The Moon Shines Bright](https://kenttrad.org/the-moon-shines-bright-albert-beale/): From Albert Beale Recorded by Peter Kennedy and Maud Karpeles, Kenardington, 14th January 1954 BBC recording 21157 Roud 702 This was presumably one of the songs which the Beale family would sing when they went out carolling. Cecil Sharp had previously noted the carol from Albert’s father James Beale, and from his sister Alice Harden.
- [A comical ditty (Fol the rol lol, The Limerick Ditty)](https://kenttrad.org/comical-ditty/): From Albert Beale Recorded by Peter Kennedy and Maud Karpeles, Kenardington, 14th January 1954 BBC recording 21156 Roud 9484 ‘Fol-the-rol-lol’ was first published in 1902. Credited to Fred W. Leigh and Fred Murray, it was sung by George Lashwood (1863 – 1942), a popular English singer and comedian of the Edwardian era. For more information, see https://folksongandmusichall.com/index.php/fol-the-rol-lol/
- [The shooting of his dear](https://kenttrad.org/the-shooting-of-his-dear/): From Clarence Rook Collected by Cecil Sharp Journal of the Folk-Song Society 2 (1905) pp.59-60 Roud 166 One of two versions contributed to JFSS 1905 by Cecil Sharp: I noted the second version – which is but a fragment – from Mr. Clarence Rook, who heard it sung twenty years ago by a very old man at a Harvest Supper at Homestall, Doddington, near Faversham, Kent.
- [Clarence Rook](https://kenttrad.org/clarence-rook/): Clarence Rook, 1862-1915 Cecil Sharp included two versions of ‘The shooting of his dear’ in the 1905 Journal of the Folk-Song Society. He wrote that “I noted the second version – which is but a fragment – from Mr. Clarence Rook, who heard it sung twenty years ago by a very old man at a Harvest Supper at Homestall, Doddington, near Faversham, Kent”. The readers of the Journal would probably have known Clarence Rook’s name, as he was a successful journalist and author. His birth was registered at Faversham in the first quarter of 1863, although his death certificate gives... Continue Reading →
- [Dave Wickens](https://kenttrad.org/dave-wickens/): David Richard Wickens, 1898-1970 In her report on her October 1953 folk song expedition to Kent, Maud Karpeles wrote that she had recorded a version of ‘John Barleycorn’ from “Dave Wicken”, at Smarden. The fate of that recording is, sadly unknown – it is not listed in either the Vaughan Williams Memorial Library catalogue, or the Roud Index. Dave Wickens had been born at Boughton Malherbe on St David’s Day, 1st March 1898. At the time of the 1901 census his father James was working for his father, William Wickens, who farmed at Park House Farm, Boughton Malherbe. William was... Continue Reading →
- [Four jolly smiths](https://kenttrad.org/four-jolly-smiths/): Sung by Robert Catt at Warehorne “A very successful concert was given in the Warehorne board schools on Wednesday evening, the Rev. T. Mayhew presiding”. Kentish Express, 26th January 1889 Roud V5558 ‘Four jolly smiths’ began life as a poem by James Rockcliffe, and appeared in The Camp of the Hallamshires, and Other Poems, published in 1865 by Pawson and Brailsford, Sheffield. As a song, it was published as sheet music by Hutchings & Romer (undated, but the National Library of Australia suggests between 1877 and 1890) with the lyrics credited to J. Louis Rockliffe, and music by Henry T.... Continue Reading →
- [A Hunting Song](https://kenttrad.org/a-hunting-song/): From Charles Bassett, Seal Southern Weekly News, 8th September 1888 Roud 584 Sent by Charles Bassett to the Southern Weekly News. I think it was in the year 1856 when a friend of mine came from Sussex to reside in this locality, and used to sing the song. It was by this means that I came to know it, so I think it may well be considered a Sussex song. I never saw it in Print, and whether the enclosed are quite the original words or not I am not prepared to say.
- [Charles Bassett](https://kenttrad.org/charles-bassett/): Charles Bassett, 1840-1890 The Brighton weekly newspaper Southern Weekly News featured a regular column titled “Sussex Notes and Queries”, edited by Frederick E. Sawyer. In the edition for 9th June 1888, under the heading “Sussex Songs and Music”, Mr Sawyer appealed for information on a range of songs, of which he had only fragmentary texts. One of these was Hunting song: –“There was Dido and Spendigo, &c.”Is not this called “The Berkeley Hunt.” A follow-up to this request appeared in Southern Weekly News, 8th September 1888: A correspondent suggested our applying to Mr. Charles Bassett, of Seal, Sevenoaks, Kent, for... Continue Reading →
- [Kent Trad is now launched](https://kenttrad.org/kent-trad-is-now-launched/): 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 century collectors such as Cecil Sharp spent far less time in Kent than some other counties – so the chances are that the songs we do know about are but a very small sample of the songs that were sung in the past by Kentish... Continue Reading →
- [Julia de Vaynes and ‘The Kentish Garland’](https://kenttrad.org/julia-de-vaynes-and-the-kentish-garland/): The following appeared in the ‘Thanet Items’ section of the East Kent Times and Mail, 25th May 1904: A writer in a county journal says:—”All Kentish people have cause to remember with gratitude a lady who has just passed away at Margate. I refer to Miss de Vaynes, to whom the county is indebted for the existence in collected form of many old Kentish songs and ballads, as well as a large number of fugitive poems relating to Kent. In making this invaluable collection, which is published in two volumes under the title of ‘The Kentish Garland,’ Miss de Vaynes... Continue Reading →
- [Jew From Spain](https://kenttrad.org/jew-from-spain/): From Children at Trosley Collected by Cecil Sharp, 29 July 1908 Cecil Sharp MSS, Folk Tunes CJS2/10/1731 Roud 8251 Children’s game. See the VWML Archive Catalogue for a description of the game: https://archives.vwml.org/records/CJS2/10/1731
- [Cock Robin](https://kenttrad.org/cock-robin/): From Children at Trosley Collected by Cecil Sharp, (29 July 1908 ?) Cecil Sharp MSS, Folk Tunes CJS2/10/1732 Roud 797 Children’s game. See the VWML Archive Catalogue for a description of the game: https://archives.vwml.org/records/CJS2/10/1732
- [Two Pigeons](https://kenttrad.org/two-pigeons/): From Children at Trosley Collected by Cecil Sharp, 29 July 1908 Cecil Sharp MSS, Folk Tunes CJS2/10/1733 Roud 13170 Children’s game. See the VWML Archive Catalogue for a description of the game: https://archives.vwml.org/records/CJS2/10/1733
- [I'm A Navvy](https://kenttrad.org/im-a-navvy/): From Children at Trosley Collected by Cecil Sharp, 29 July 1908 Cecil Sharp MSS, Folk Tunes CJS2/10/1730 Roud 13310 Children’s game. See the VWML Archive Catalogue for a description of the game: https://archives.vwml.org/records/CJS2/10/1730
- [Poor Mary Sits A Weeping](https://kenttrad.org/poor-mary-sits-a-weeping/): From Children at Trosley Collected by Cecil Sharp, (29 July 1908 ?) Cecil Sharp MSS, Folk Tunes CJS2/10/1734 Roud 2118 Children’s game. See the VWML Archive Catalogue for a description of the game: https://archives.vwml.org/records/CJS2/10/1734
- [Cobbler Cobbler Mend My Shoe](https://kenttrad.org/cobbler-cobbler-mend-my-shoe/): From Children at Trosley Collected by Cecil Sharp, 29 July 1908 Cecil Sharp MSS, Folk Words CJS2/9/1567 Roud 12749 Children’s game. See the VWML Archive Catalogue for a description of the game: https://archives.vwml.org/records/CJS2/9/1567
- [Dr Johnson](https://kenttrad.org/dr-johnson/): John Martin Johnson, 1898-1962 Francis Collinson collected one song from “Dr Johnson, Smarden”. This would have been Dr John Johnson, who was born in Richmond, Yorkshire in 1898. His mother was Janetta Jane Johnson, née Ayres. His father, Jonathan, was listed in the 1901 census as a boot dealer, but in 1911 – although still at the same address, 20 New Road, Richmond – as a farmer. John, by then a medical student, was shown as a visitor to the family home in the 1921 census. He married Sybil M Wetherell in Richmond in 1925, and they must have moved... Continue Reading →
- [My Nan's a Mazer](https://kenttrad.org/my-nans-a-mazer/): From Dr Johnson Collected by Francis Collinson, Smarden Francis Collinson Manuscript Collection COL/5/27 Roud 21895 Collinson listed this as a “Yorkshire song”, but in fact it originated as a Geordie dialect song, ‘Wor Nanny’s a mazer’, composed by the “The Pitman Poet” Tommy Armstrong, from County Durham. The original words can be found at https://folksongandmusichall.com/index.php/wor-nannys-a-mazer/
- [Heaving the Lead](https://kenttrad.org/heaving-the-lead/): From Bob Ellison Collected by Cecil Sharp, Belvedere, 7th September 1914 Cecil Sharp MSS, Folk Tunes CJS2/10/3040 Roud 13255
- [Haul the Bowline](https://kenttrad.org/haul-the-bowline/): From Bob Ellison Collected by Cecil Sharp, Belvedere, 7th September 1914 Cecil Sharp MSS, Folk Tunes CJS2/10/3039 Roud 652
- [Ranzo](https://kenttrad.org/ranzo/): From Bob Ellison Collected by Cecil Sharp, Belvedere, 7th September 1914 Cecil Sharp MSS, Folk Tunes CJS2/10/3038 Roud 2626
- [The Dead Horse](https://kenttrad.org/the-dead-horse/): From Bob Ellison Collected by Cecil Sharp, Belvedere, 7th September 1914 Cecil Sharp MSS, Folk Tunes CJS2/10/3037 Roud 3724
- [Sally Brown](https://kenttrad.org/sally-brown/): From Bob Ellison Collected by Cecil Sharp, Belvedere, 7th September 1914 Cecil Sharp MSS, Folk Tunes CJS2-10-3036 Roud 2628 Note: This song contains words which were in common currency at the time it was recorded, but which are now considered inappropriate and/or offensive.
- [Yankee John](https://kenttrad.org/yankee-john/): From Bob Ellison Collected by Cecil Sharp, Belvedere, 7th September 1914 Cecil Sharp MSS, Folk Tunes CJS2/10/3035 Roud 13259
- [Whiskey for my Johnny](https://kenttrad.org/whiskey-for-my-johnny/): From Bob Ellison Collected by Cecil Sharp, Belvedere, 7th September 1914 Cecil Sharp MSS, Folk Tunes CJS2-10-3034 Roud 651
- [Heave Away My Johnny](https://kenttrad.org/heave-away-my-johnny/): From Bob Ellison Collected by Cecil Sharp, Belvedere, 7th September 1914 Cecil Sharp MSS, Folk Tunes CJS2/10/3033 Roud 616
- [Wo Stormalong (Stormy)](https://kenttrad.org/wo-stormalong-stormy/): From Bob Ellison Collected by Cecil Sharp, Belvedere, 4th September 1914 Cecil Sharp MSS, Folk Tunes CJS2/10/3031 Roud 216
- [Rio Grand](https://kenttrad.org/rio-grand/): From Bob Ellison Collected by Cecil Sharp, Belvedere, 7th September 1914 Cecil Sharp MSS, Folk Tunes CJS2/10/3030 Roud 317
- [So Handy](https://kenttrad.org/so-handy/): From Bob Ellison Collected by Cecil Sharp, Belvedere, 4th September 1914 Cecil Sharp MSS, Folk Tunes CJS2/10/3029 Roud 814
- [Shanadar](https://kenttrad.org/shanadar/): From Bob Ellison Collected by Cecil Sharp, Belvedere, 4th September 1914 Cecil Sharp MSS, Folk Tunes CJS2/10/3028 Roud 324
- [Shallow Brown](https://kenttrad.org/shallow-brown/): From Bob Ellison Collected by Cecil Sharp, Belvedere, 4th September 1914 Cecil Sharp MSS, Folk Tunes CJS2/10/3027 Roud 2621
- [Blow The Man Down](https://kenttrad.org/blow-the-man-down/): From Bob Ellison Collected by Cecil Sharp, Belvedere, 4th September 1914 Cecil Sharp MSS, Folk Tunes CJS2/10/3024B Roud 2624
- [Tom Batt](https://kenttrad.org/tom-batt/): Thomas Batt, 1886-1950 Francis Collinson collected a six verse version of ‘Come Come My Pretty Maid’ from the Batt Brothers of Bethersden in 1942. He had previously collected an identical version, but with only the first two verses, from Tom Batt, also at Bethersden. The Batt Brothers had a half-brother Thomas, from their father’s first marriage, but he died in 1912, so could not have been the singer that Collinson met. The singer was most likely the brothers’ nephew Tom, whose father Alfred Batt, born 1850, was the youngest of their half-brothers. Tom was born in the third quarter of... Continue Reading →

## Pages

- [Help](https://kenttrad.org/help/): Searching this website You can of course browse the alphabetical list of Songs and Singers, but if you’re looking for something specific it’s probably best to use the Search tool. The Search icon should be visible top right, wherever you are on the site. Searching for songs and singers Typing the name of the song in the search bar will bring up hits for songs with that title, and singers who sang the song. If necessary, you can use the Filter options on the right to narrow the search results. Please note that the title shown on this website for... Continue Reading →
- [News](https://kenttrad.org/news/)
- [Home](https://kenttrad.org/): 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 Singers Songs Subscribe to updates Click the Subscribe button to... Continue Reading →
- [Songs](https://kenttrad.org/song-index/): Index of songs on this site A – B – C – D – E – F – G – H– I – J – K – L – M – N – O – P – Q – R – S – T – U – V – W – X – Y – Z A Song title First line Singer Roud Number According to the Act  Oh its come all ye lords and gentlemen, who take things in delight Mr Hill 8341 The Aged Pair ‘Twas bitter cold one winter night Kate Oliver 21862 Around Cape Horn Our... Continue Reading →
- [Collectors and Researchers](https://kenttrad.org/collectors/): Marian Arkwright Lucy Broadwood John Brune Ella Bull George Butterworth James Madison Carpenter Paul Carter Francis Collinson Rupert Croft-Cooke Julia De Vaynes Geoff Doel Joseph Woodfall Ebsworth Simon Evans ‘Felix’ (W.G. Glanfield) George Frampton Anne Geddes Gilchrist W.G. Glanfield (‘Felix’) Lucy Grahame Percy Grainger Francis Jekyll Maud Karpeles Peter Kennedy Bill Leader Edith Lyttleton Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger Rev. Philip Parsons Reg Pellett Frank Purslow Clarence Rook Stephen Sedley Cecil Sharp Denise Stanley Ken Stubbs Alice Travers Ralph Vaughan Williams Sam Willett Mike Yates
- [Singers](https://kenttrad.org/singers/): A – B – C – D – E – F – G – H– I – J – K – L – M – N – O – P – Q – R – S – T – U – V – W – X – Y – Z Where relevant, women singers are listed under both their married and their maiden names. A Charley Appleton Dorothy Appleton Sid Appleton Ethel Apps B Frances Baker Harry Baker Charles Barling Harry Barling Jesse Barrow Charles Bassett Tom Batt Batt Family Arthur Bayley George ‘Nip’ Bayley Albert Beale Alice Beale (Harden)... Continue Reading →
- [About Kent Trad](https://kenttrad.org/about/): 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. The songs can be described as “vernacular songs”, or simply as “folk songs”. Defining a folk song is notoriously difficult, but this site takes an... Continue Reading →


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