The Parson & the Songmen

Send us Fan Mail 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 way as St Patrick's Day is celebrated in Ireland. But who was St Piran, and why is he so special to the Cornish? Find out now in t...

Send us Fan Mail 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? Support the show https://gofund.me/48985b32 PLEASE VISIT TO MAKE A DONATION TO THE RUNNING COST OF THE PODCASTS Mike's website: mikebosworth.uk FOR ALL LINKS TO INTERVIEWEES AND ORGANISATIONS https://www.fa...

Send us Fan Mail 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. " After many years playing Early Music on recorders and viols, I took up the harp when moving to Cornwall. This led naturally to an inte...

Send us Fan Mail 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 songs could well have origins far to the north, and to finish off Mike provides a theory as to why there may well have been so much footfal...

Send us Fan Mail 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 drinking and making lots of noise... sounds a lot like Mike really! Support the show https://gofund.me/48985b32 PLEASE VISIT TO MAKE A DONATION TO THE RU...

Send us Fan Mail 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 piskies, as they are known in Cornwall. Add a generous helping of Christmas song and you indeed have a bumper festive edition...

Send us Fan Mail 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? We revisit the interview with Cornish-based musicologist Mike O'Connor from Series Two, Podcast 11 to reinforce Mike's view a...

Send us Fan Mail 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? Find out a little more now in Series Two Podcast 15 of The 'Parson and the Songmen' Support the show https://gofund.me...

Send us Fan Mail 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 and the Songmen to find out! Support the show https://gofund.me/48985b32 PLEASE VISIT TO MAKE A DONATION TO THE RUNNING COST OF THE PODCASTS Mike's we...

Send us Fan Mail 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 severed forever. Support the show https://gofund.me/48985b32 PLEASE VISIT TO MAKE A DONATION TO THE RUNNING COST OF THE PODCASTS Mike's web...

Send us Fan Mail 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 influence. Well folks, in order to gain more of an insight into this topic, Mike was lucky enough to recently talk to Mike O'Connor, who is...

Send us Fan Mail 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 Note*** The beginning of this podcast will sound the same as the standard one! Don't be fooled... Support the show https://gofund.me/48985...

Send us Fan Mail 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. Support the show https://gofund.me/48985b32 PLEASE VISIT TO MAKE A DONATION TO THE RUNNING COST OF THE PODCASTS Mike's website: mikebosworth.uk FOR ALL LINKS TO...

Send us Fan Mail 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 realise that these mythical folk songs had been looked for in the wrong places. One such place that yielded many, many songs was ye o...

Send us Fan Mail 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 become the most famous and well remembered folk song collector in this country. His name is Cecil Sharp. Support the show https:/...

Send us Fan Mail 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 editorial duties. His reason? Songs about drinking are not folk songs.... Support the show https://gofund.me/48985b32 PLEASE VI...

Send us Fan Mail 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 trips into Cornwall, including one of his personal favourites, and rather a notorious one to boot! Support the show https://gofund.me/4898...

Send us Fan Mail 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 Duchy from overseas. Support the show https://gofund.me/48985b32 PLEASE VISIT TO MAKE A DONATION TO THE RUNNING COST OF THE PODCASTS...

Send us Fan Mail 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 Songmen. Support the show https://gofund.me/48985b32 PLEASE VISIT TO MAKE A DONATION TO THE RUNNING COST OF THE PODCASTS Mike's website:...

Send us Fan Mail 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 Falcon Inn. Support the show https://gofund.me/48985b32 PLEASE VISIT TO MAKE A DONATION TO THE RUNNING COST OF THE PODCASTS Mike's websit...

Send us Fan Mail 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 episode we visit Helston, in the west of the county, to find out about another Cornish celebration of the arrival of spring, Helston Flora Day...

Send us Fan Mail 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 in the North Cornish town of Padstow on May 1st. Oss Oss Wee Oss! Support the show https://gofund.me/48985b32 PLEASE VISIT TO MAKE A DONATION T...

Send us Fan Mail 'Zackly what it says on the tin, a selection of songs featured in series one! Track Listing and Start Times OR CLICK ON CHAPTERS to go straight to each song. The Egloshayle Ringers 0.54 Spencer The Rover 3.02 The Gypsy 5.53 The Blue Flame 8.41 The Bell Ringing 11.13 The Last Of The Singers 14.50 Tithe Pig 17.31 The Blue Kerchief 21.22 The Slapton Smuggleress/The Sailor Woman...

Send us Fan Mail This podcast is aimed at those of you who may wish to do some of your own research into the life and folk song collecting of the Reverend Sabine Baring-Gould. You will have heard the titles of some books in the past episodes of this series, so to find out more about them then listen away! Also below is a list of the texts that are referred to: 'Songs Of The West - Folk Songs...

Send us Fan Mail In this nineteenth episode of The Parson and the Songmen we find out whether the gamble that Sabine took with his inheritance did indeed pay off and whether he would ever reside in his native Devon again... But, as the title of this podcast may suggest, you may have already guessed the answer! Support the show https://gofund.me/48985b32 PLEASE VISIT TO MAKE A DONATION TO THE RUNNI...