Sharp, Cecil
Back to collectorsCecil James Sharp was born in November 1859 in Denmark Hill, South London, the son of James Sharp, a slate merchant. He attended Uppingham School before starting a mathematics degree at Clare College, Cambridge. In October 1882, he departed for Australia where he resided for nearly ten years, working for five years as Associate to the Chief Justice of South Australia and then as a partner in a private venture, the Adelaide College of Music. There, despite his lack of formal musical training, he taught singing and music theory, in his spare time writing compositions of his own and conducting with the Adelaide Philharmonia Society.
In 1893, the year he married Constance Birch, Sharp was engaged as a music teacher by Ludgrove School, a preparatory school in North London. During his seven years in the post, he took on a number of other musical jobs, most notably as Principal of the Hampstead Conservatoire of Music (1896-1905.) He also later acted as music tutor to the Royal Household (1904-7).
On Boxing Day 1899, Sharp was staying with his mother-in-law in Oxford and happened to see the Headington Quarry Morris Men performing a set of 5 dances. He was fascinated and called back their musician, William Kimber, to notate the tunes and later arrange them, although at this point with seemingly little idea of what to do with them. However, by 1901 he had joined the Folk-Song Society (formed in 1898) and a year later had published A Book of British Song, which included many traditional songs and demonstrated his growing interest in folk music and the uses to which it could be put.
When in 1903 Sharp ‘discovered’ folk songs in Somerset, he saw its potential for educational use and general publication. Back in London he prepared lectures and attracted much coverage in newspaper articles. Indeed, by 1907 his seminal English Folk-Song: Some Conclusions was published, thus establishing him the foremost expert in the field. Later, in 1906, he returned to his collecting of dance and generated national interest in morris and sword dancing with public performances and regional training programmes. Sharp founded the English Folk Dance Society in 1911 which, together with the Folk-Song Society, forms the basis of the English Folk Dance and Song Society today.
Although a relative latecomer to the folk revival, Cecil Sharp became the most high profile and certainly most prolific folk music and dance collector of his contemporaries. He noted down 4,977 tunes in all, including nearly 3,000 songs from England and over 1,500 on his four collecting trips to the Appalachian Mountains in the USA (1915-18). Much of this work was carried out at his own expense or with the help of meagre grants from benefactors, particularly in the USA. He published extensively from his fieldwork and a select bibliography of his works can be found in ‘Still Growing: English Traditional Songs and Singers from the Cecil Sharp Collection’ (London: EFDSS, 2003), pp. 117-120.
Cecil Sharp died in 1924. He was and remains a controversial figure in many ways but what cannot be denied is his outstanding collection of folk songs, tunes and dances. There has to date been only one biography, written by A.H.Fox Strangways in 1933, later re-edited by Maud Karpeles in 1967. The division of views on the man is best illustrated in the works of Dave Harker and Chris Bearman (see http://efdss.org/songbib3.pdf).
Sharp’s fine copy manuscripts reside with Clare College, University of Cambridge. All other manuscripts and artefacts, including his field notebooks, correspondence and photograph collection, reside with the Vaughan Williams Memorial Library at Cecil Sharp House in London. For a clearer description of Sharp’s various collections, see [Heaney, Mike] ‘The citation of unpublished material by or relating to Cecil Sharp’ in Folk Music Journal, 8 (2002), 132-135.
(Source – Vaughan Williams Memorial Library website http://library.efdss.org/cgi-bin/textpage.cgi?file=aboutSharp)
Sharp visited Gloucestershire extensively, often to collect Morris Dances, but he also noted over 200 songs from the country. His last collecting visit to Gloucestershire was in 1921, but he was also involved in organising folk dance displays at Cheltenham College.
Note by Gwilym Davies November 2011
Songs Collected:
- Old Woman Tossed up
- King of the Gypsies
- Bonny Blue Jacket
- Fisherman’s Girl
- Highland Mary (tune from Henry Taylor, Longborough)
- Old Woman Tossed up in a Blanket (tune from Henry Taylor, Longborough)
- Maid of the Mill (tune from Henry Taylor, Longborough)
- London Pride (tune from Henry Taylor, Longborough)
- Shepherd’s Hey (tune from Henry Taylor, Longborough)
- Constant Billy (tune from Henry Taylor, Longborough)
- Hey diddle dis (tune from Henry Taylor, Longborough)
- Swaggering Boney (tune from Henry Taylor, Longborough)
- Green Brooms
- Gallant Huzzar (tune from Charles Benfield)
- Saturday Night (tune from Charles Benfield)
- Balancy Straw (tune from Charles Benfield)
- Maid of the Mill (tune from Charles Benfield)
- Glorisher (tune from Charles Benfield)
- Bonnets so Blue (tune from Charles Benfield)
- Monk’s March (tune from Charles Benfield)
- Sherborne Jig (tune from Charles Benfield)
- Willie and Nancy (tune from Charles Benfield)
- Rose Tree. The, tune from John Cook
- Country Dance Air, tune from Mrs Deane
- Swedish Dance, tune from Thomas Swallow
- Tunes from George Simpson (Sherborne)
- Go & List for a Sailor (Tune from George Simpson)
- How do You Do? (Tune from George Simpson)
- Trunkles (Tune from George Simpson)
- Cuckoo’s Nest (Tune from George Simpson)
- Old Woman Tossed up in a Blanket (Tune from George Simpson)
- Lads a Bunshum (Tune from George Simpson)
- Constant Billy (Tune from George Simpson)
- Orange in Bloom (Tune from George Simpson)
- Sherborne Jig (Tune from George Simpson)
- Jockie to the Fair (Tune from George Simpson)
- Monks March (Tune from George Simpson)
- Princess Royal (Tune from George Simpson)
- Young Collins (Tune from George Simpson)
- Blue Eyed Stranger (Tune from George Simpson)
- Beautiful Nancy
- Cold Blows the Wind (Drew)
- Green Gravel (Temple Guiting)
- Sailor Courted a Farmer’s Daughter, A
- General Wolfe
- Virgin Unspotted (Thomas)
- Young Banker
- Bitter Withy, The
- Brisk Young Lover, A (Benfield)
- Botany Bay (Tombs)
- Virgin Unspotted, A (Tombs)
- Captain Grant
- Banks of Inverary, The
- There was a Lady in Merry Scotland
- John Reilly
- Pretty Shepherdess, The
- Broken Token, The (Wiggett)
- Broken-hearted Gentleman, The
- Rosemary Lane
- Fifty Long Miles
- Crafty Maid’s Policy, The (Hedges)
- Georgie
- Tunes from Thomas Denley
- Hunting the Squirrel (Tune from Thomas Denley)
- Triumph, The (Tune from Thomas Denley)
- Lumps of Plum Pudding (Tune from Thomas Denley)
- Princess Royal (Tune from Thomas Denley)
- Rose Tree, The (Tune from Thomas Denley)
- Tunes from William Hathaway
- Jockey to the Fair (Tune not from William Hathaway)
- Crafty Maid’s Policy, The (Fletcher)
- Blow the Fire, Blacksmith
- Dilly Song, The
- Three Butchers, The (Hedges)
- Taffy
- Shepherds are the Best of Men (Hedges)
- Pretty Nancy of Yarmouth
- Oxford City
- Outlandish Knight, The (Hedges)
- I Followed her
- Horses to Grass
- Golden Vanity, The (Hedges)
- John Ridler’s Oven
- Bold Fisherman, The (Hedges)
- ‘Twas of a Young Farmer
- Rosetta
- Waterloo
- Greensleeves (Tune from Thomas Denley)
- Cherry Tree Carol, The (Clayton)
- Greensleeves
- Tunes From John Mason
- Shepherd’s Song, The (Gill)
- Dabbling in the Dew
- On Christmas Time
- Botany Bay (Smith)
- White Cockade, The
- Sailor and a Beautiful Wife, A
- Our Captain Called all Hands
- It’s of a Young Damsel
- Christ Came to Christmas
- Oranges and Lemons (Stow-on-the-Wold)
- Green Gravel (Condicote)
- Outlandish Knight, The (Gardiner)
- George Ridler’s Oven (Gardiner)
- Joys of Mary, The (Hawkins)
- Joys of Mary, The (Evans)
- Moon Shines Bright, The (Gill)
- Unquiet Grave, The (Harding)
- Sally my Dear
- Green Mossy Banks of the Lea, The (Harding)
- Butcher’s Frolic, The
- Creeping Jane
- Brisk Young Sailor, The (Richards)
- Baffled Knight, The (Richards)
- Three Milkmaids
- Rigs of London Town, The
- Hearty Good Fellow, The
- As I sat on a Sunny Bank
- Crow in the Gutter
- William Taylor (Timms)
- Unquiet Grave, The (Timms)
- Prickly Bush, The
- Lost Lady Found, The (Timms)
- Wassail Song (Buckland and Laverton)
- Unquiet Grave, The (Bayliss)
- Three Butchers, The (Bayliss)
- Seventeen Come Sunday (Bayliss)
- Floating Down the Tide
- Toby
- My Bonny Bonny Boy
- Shepherdess, The
- Roving Journeyman, The
- Rambling Sailor, The
- Oh, No John
- Virgin Unspotted, A (Smitherd)
- Still Growing (Smitherd)
- Holly and the Ivy, The (Clayton)
- Unquiet Grave, The (Smitherd)
- Shepherd with his Reed and Fife, The
- Come all you True Good Christians
- Rose in June, The
- O Once I Courted a Fair Young Maid
- Miser, The
- In Shepherd Park
- Soldier’s Boy, The
- Unquiet Grave, The (Williams)
- T for Thomas
- Still Growing (Williams)
- Seventeen Come Sunday (Williams)
- Saddle my Horse
- One Cow, The
- Little Girl, The
- Johnny from Hazelgreen/Hazeldean
- Indian Lass, The
- Fat Buck, The
- Jolly Waggoner, The (Adams)
- Young Collins (Tune from William Hathaway)
- Swaggering Boney (Tune from William Hathaway)
- Sherbourne Jig (Tune from William Hathaway)
- Shepherd’s Hey (Tune from William Hathaway)
- Princess Royal (Tune from William Hathaway)
- Old Woman Tossed up in a Blanket (Tune from William Hathaway)
- Old Trunk Hoe (Tune not from William Hathaway)
- Nutting Girl (Tune from William Hathaway)
- Marriage Vow (Tune from William Hathaway)
- Maid of the Mill (Tune from William Hathaway)
- London Pride (Tune from William Hathaway)
- Market Chorus (Tune from John Mason)
- Susianna (Tune from John Mason)
- With my Basket on my Arm (Tune from John Mason)
- Trip to the Forest (Tune from John Mason)
- Roast Beef of Old England (Tune from John Mason)
- Hunt the Squirrel (Tune from John Mason)
- Swaggering Boney (Tune from John Mason)
- New Rigged Ship (Tune from John Mason)
- Black Joker (Tune from John Mason)
- Jockey to the Fair (Tune from John Mason)
- Bonnets so Blue (Tune from John Mason)
- Quick Step (Tune from John Mason)
- Haste to the Wedding (Tune from John Mason)
- Maid of the Mill (Tune from John Mason)
- Morris Dance 3 (Tune from John Mason)
- Morris Dance 2 (Tune from John Mason)
- Morris Dance 1 (Tune from John Mason)
- Gallop Hey (Tune from John Mason)
- Shepherd’s Hey (Tune from John Mason)
- Sweet Briar, The (Tune from John Mason)
- Highland Mary “Untitled” (Tune from John Mason)
- Heel and Toe (Tune from John Mason)
- Triumph, The (Tune from John Mason)
- Bobbing Around (Tune from John Mason)
- Molly Oxford (Tune from John Mason)
- (Old) Trunko (Tune from John Mason)
- Old Heddon of Forlay (Tune from John Mason)
- Sloe, The (Tune from John Mason)
- Rose Tree (Tune from John Mason)
- Country Dance (Tune from John Mason)
- Persian Dance (Tune from John Mason)
- Nutting Girl (Tune from John Mason)
- Bourton Six (Tune from John Mason)
- Highland Quickstep (Tune from John Mason)
- Princess Royal (Tune from John Mason)
- Liverpool Hornpipe (Tune from John Mason)
- Thimble Hornpipe (Tune from John Mason)
- Worcestershire Hornpipe, The (Tune from John Mason)
- Highland Mary (Tune from William Hathaway)
- Hey Diddle Dis (Tune from William Hathaway)
- Greensleeves (Tune from William Hathaway)
- Gallant Hussar (Tune from William Hathaway)
- Morris Dance
- Cissiter Fair
- Green Sleeves
- Butterfly, The, a tune from William Davies (Winchcombe)
- Cuckoo’s Nest (Tune from William Hathaway)
- Country Gardens (Tune from William Hathaway)
- As Joseph was a-Walking
- Green Mossy Banks of the Lea, The (Smitherd)
- Wild Morris, The (Tune from Charles Baldwin)
- Ruardean Sword Dance (Tune from Henry Allen)
- Polly Put The Kettle On (Tune from Charles Baldwin)
- Morris Call (Tune from Charles Baldwin)
- Gloucester Hornpipe (Tune from Charles Baldwin)
- Dorsetshire March (Tune from Charles Baldwin)
- British Grenadiers (Tune from William Hathaway)
- Constant Billy (Tune from William Hathaway)
- Belle Isles March (Tune from William Hathaway)
- Calling On (Ruardean Morris)
- Adieu my Lovely Nancy
- As Jockey on one Summer’s Morn
- Baddenham Umberello, The
- Banks of Sweet Dundee, The (Watts)
- Barbara Allen (Williams)
- Bingo
- Bonny Bunch of Roses O
- Brickster, The
- Brisk Young Lover, A (Williams)
- Brisk Young Man, A (Smitherd)
- Broken Token, The (Thomas)
- Butcher’s Shop, The
- Cherry Tree Carol, The (Roberts)
- Cock Robin (Temple Guiting)
- Cock Robin (Stow-on-the-Wold)
- Crabfish, The (Williams)
- Cruel Ship’s Carpenter, The
- Cuckoo, The (Williams)
- Cuckoo, The (Corbett)
- Derby Ram, The
- Earl Richard
- Erin’s Lovely Home (Watts)
- False Bride, The
- Farmer in His Dell (Condicote)
- Female Cabin Boy
- Fisherman, The
- Gossip Joan (Watts)
- Green Bed, The
- Green Gravel (Stow-on-the-Wold)
- Green Mossy Banks of the Lea, The (Williams)
- Hark the Robbers (Stow-on-the-Wold)
- See the Robbers (Temple Guiting)
- Hermit, The
- Holy Day, The
- Husbandman and Serving Man, The (Fry)
- Husbandman and Serving Man, The (Thomas)
- Irish Girl, The (Corbett)
- Isabella
- Farmer’s in His Dell, The (Stow-on-the-Wold)
- Cuckoo, The (Smitherd)
- Jolly Miller, The (Stow-on-the-Wold)
- Jolly Miller, The (Temple Guiting)
- Jolly Waggoner, The (Watts)
- King George
- King of the Barbaree (Coates)
- King of the Barbarees (Stow-on-the-Wold)
- Little Room, The (Barnard)
- Long Looked for come at Last
- Looby Light
- Lord Bateman (Corbett)
- Leather Bottel, The (Watts)
- Milking Pail, The (Coates)
- New Garden Fields
- Oats and Beans
- Old Robinson Crusoe
- Orange and Blue, The
- Oranges and Lemons (Stanton)
- Our Shoes are Made
- Outlandish Knight, The (Barnard)
- Poaching Song (Smitherd)
- Poor Mary Sits a-Weeping (Stanton)
- Poor Sally Sits a-Weeping (Stow-on-the-Wold)
- Pretty little Girl of Mine
- Push the Business On
- Farmer’s in his Den, The (Coates)
- Rain Rain
- Ring a Ring O’ Roses (Condicote)
- Ring a Ring A Roses (Stow-on-the-Wold)
- Roman Soldiers (Stow-on-the Wold)
- Roman Soldiers (Stanton)
- Roman Soldiers (Coates)
- Romans and English (Temple Guiting)
- Seeds of Love, The (Thomas)
- Shannon Side, The
- Jack Williams
- Sprig of Thyme, The
- Sweet Country Life, A
- Three Dukes (Temple Guiting)
- Wallflowers
- Wassail Song (Kemble)
- We’ll All Stand Up
- When I was a Young Girl
- Who Knocks There?
- William and Mary (Fry)
- Wind the Wind, The
- Young Lambs (Street Cry)
- Jenny Jones (Stanton)
- Jenny Jones (Coates)
- Jenny Jones (Stow-on-the-Wold)
- Wassail Song (Little Sodbury)