My Podcasts
More songs and stories from the Rev S Baring-Gould collection.
Cornwall is often referred to as, The land of Myth and Legend.
The Rev Sabine Baring-Gould knew of Cornwall's myths and legends.
But it was from its music culture of the old traditional ballads and folk songs as he often said were 'from the mouths of the people' that brought him to Cornwall in the early 1890's.
Sabine accompanied by his friend the Rev Freddie W Bussell made several visits across the river Tamar searching for traditional Cornish folk songs.
Some of them you will hear in the 25 episodes in this series.
The two parsons made several fruit-full repeat visits collecting songs from singers they found living in the towns and villages in the area of the North east of the Duchy. All of which were close to main line stations so Sabine and Freddie more than likely travelled by train for quickness and comfort.
Their trips into Cornwall were worthwhile producing a good number of songs to add to those they had already collected in Devon.
There is no record of them travelling any further West than the village of Padstow into Cornwall.
These pod casts give me the opportunity to talk about the traditional folk music and songs of Cornwall in interviews with local musicians and singers.
In this series I will be able to pursue my interest in Sabine's idea that some of the music and songs he found in Cornwall he believed could have been of Celtic origin.
Was this possible?
To find out I asked two musicians what they thought? First, I asked Mike O'Conner not only a musicologist but a Cornish Bard too. See episode 12 for my interview with Mike.
Mike is the leading researcher of music in Cornwall, and with the harpist Barbara Grigg's, a respected early music specialist, together they perform a unique repertoire of early Cornish music.
So to learn more about the Cornish harp & it's history I went to visit and interview Barbara Grigg's at her home in Cornwall.
My interview with Barbara is in episode 20.
My final interview in episode No 23 was with the traditional Cornish singer and story teller Mo Keast. An interesting discussion with Mo who told one of her stories and sang a song in her own unique style.
Welcome to Series Two of the Parson and the Songmen where we will follow the Reverend Sabine Baring-Gould into Cornwall on a new series of folksong collecting trips. This episode focuses on the age-old tradition of welcoming in the spring...
May 01, 2024•Season 2•Episode 1•19:08
Welcome to the second episode of the second series of The Parson and the Songmen. In this series we follow the Reverend Sabine Baring-Gould on further folk song collecting trips, not this time in Devon, but in neighbouring Cornwall. In this epi...
May 15, 2024•Season 2•Episode 2•11:34
In this episode we join Sabine on a further song collecting trip into Cornwall, this time to St Mawgan, situated a few miles south of Padstow on the North Coast of the County. Here he visited a pub with a reputation for hosting singers, The Fal...
June 05, 2024•Season 2•Episode 3•17:02
We join Sabine and Freddie Bussell as they take a train trip to Fowey, situated on the South Cornish coast. But will their song-collecting excursion be profitable? Find out now in the fourth episode in the second series of The Parson And The So...
June 19, 2024•Season 2•Episode 4•16:15
Join us in this latest episode of The Parson And The Songmen as we explore Cornwall's mining heritage and how some of the songs collected by the Reverend Sabine Baring-Gould could may well have made it into Cornwall with miners returning to The...
July 10, 2024•Season 2•Episode 5•14:58
This episode brings you the story of Edmund Fry, who moved from Cornwall to Lydford in Devon, just six miles from Sabine Baring-Gould's home. Edmund provided Sabine with several songs that he may never have collected on his song collecting trip...
July 24, 2024•Season 2•Episode 6•16:32
In this episode we explore the origins of two songs from Cornish songmen which have a common theme... drink! These were destined for Sabine's 'Songs Of The West', but were dropped by another well-known folk song collector who had been given edi...
August 14, 2024•Season 2•Episode 7•16:11
In the very early 1900s someone 'knocked on the door' of Lew Trenchard Manor to ask The Reverend Sabine Baring-Gould for advice as to how to go about collecting folk songs. This gentleman was taken under the Parson's wing, and later would becom...
August 28, 2024•16:15
In musical circles in late Victorian times the question was often asked as to whether England had any traditional folk songs? The answer, thankfully, was "Yes!" But, it took Sabine Baring-Gould and other folk song collectors of that era to real...
September 11, 2024•Season 2•Episode 9•11:50
In this episode we link an old Cornish song with a legend that tells of how three of our local rivers might have come into being! Intrigued? Well find out more now in the latest podcast of The Parson and the Songmen...
September 25, 2024•Season 2•Episode 10•14:58
Back in Series One in episodes 11 and 12 we explored Baring-Gould's idea that some of the songs and tunes from Devon and Cornwall were somehow different from those found to the east and whether the Celtic blood of the area had had an i...
October 09, 2024•Season 2•Episode 11•16:26
If you would like to find out more about the history of music and culture in Cornwall and Devon then this extended edition allows Mike O'Connor the opportunity to expand on the ideas that he put forward in the S2 11 podcast.***Please No...
October 09, 2024•24:45
In this episode we continue to explore the idea that the music of Cornwall and Devon came from a common source, and that the arrival of the Saxons did not mean that the link between the two areas, and their shared celtic connections, were sever...
October 23, 2024•Season 2•Episode 13•10:01
But, we ask ourselves - Who is Flora and where exactly does she come from? Could she be from Cornwall? Is she from Devon? And where exactly is West? Confused? Well you had better listen in to this latest edition of The Parson...
November 13, 2024•Season 2•Episode 14•12:57
Sam Henry was a folk song collector in Northern Ireland who Mike discovered after researching a song from Cornwall for this latest podcast. Digging deeper, Mike wondered if Sam had read Sabine's 'Songs From The West' and taken inspiration?F...
November 28, 2024•Season 2•Episode 15•14:11
As we near the end of the centenary year of the Reverend Sabine Baring-Gould's death, Mike ponders why the folksong collectors who came after him did not pursue the idea that many of the songs and tunes of Devon and Cornwall had celtic roots? W...
December 11, 2024•Season 2•Episode 16•18:41
Happy Christmas! In this episode we join Mike on a road trip around Cornwall to look into the surprising history of carols and their place in the church. If that wasn't enough Mike also delves into the mysterious world of 'the little folk' or p...
December 25, 2024•21:48
A Happy New Year To You All! Join Mike in this first podcast of 2025 for the 18th episode of the second series of The Parson and the Songmen. This time around Mr Bosworth looks into the tradition of wassailing, which can involve drinki...
January 08, 2025•12:52
In this episode of The Parson and the Songmen we join The Reverend Sabine Baring Gould and Freddie Bussell for two songs they collected from Samuel Gilbert, landlord of the Falcon Inn at St Mawgan (or Lanherne in the Cornish language). The two...
January 22, 2025•Season 2•Episode 19•13:12
Recently, Mike went to visit Barbara Griggs for a chat about the place of the harp in Cornish music. What you are about to listen to is a fascinating podcast, brought to life by the engaging, informative, and witty explanations from Barbara...
February 05, 2025•Season 2•Episode 20
In this episode of The Parson and the Songmen, Mike investigates the possibility of missing Cornish folk songs. Is there a religious connection and will he solve the case?...
February 19, 2025•Season 2•Episode 21
Gool Peran Lowen! Or for those whose Cornish may be a little rusty, Happy St Piran's Day!St Piran is generally regarded as the patron saint of Cornwall and the 5th March is St Piran's Day which is celebrated in Cornwall in much the same ...
March 05, 2025•Season 2•Episode 22
Recently, Mike went to visit the force of nature that is Moe Keast at her home in Bodmin, Cornwall. Moe is an traditional singer and storyteller and has been a regular at Bodmin Folk Club, with a short break for bringing up children, almost sinc...
March 19, 2025•Season 2•Episode 23
Well, we've missed All Fool's Day by a day, but let's celebrate this custom anyway. In this podcast Mike takes a look into its origins and tells some stories about one of Cornwall's great historical pranksters, as recorded by The Reverend Sabin...
April 02, 2025•Season 2•Episode 24
Hardly seems a year since the last compilation of music from the first series. But yer us be! Season Two is now complete and we'll finish off in viddy style with the now customary(!) selection of songs from the shows. Geddon Boy!Here is ...
April 16, 2025•Season 2•Episode 25
A very entertaining session, with lively music, singing and in depth story telling.
A very enjoyable night and good fun!