Lucy Broadwood, Alice Gillington and Bob Copper

LUCY BROADWOOD

Lucy Broadwood was the great pioneer of English folk song collecting. Together with Frank Kidson and the rev. Sabine Baring-Gould she collected and published songs around 1890. She was instrumental in setting up the Folk Song Society in 1897 and became a kingpin in the society as secretary and editor of the Journal in the early twentieth century.
Lucy collected 15 great songs from Patience Vaisey who was living in Berkshire in 1892. Patience learned her songs in Hampshire when she grew up in Sherbourne St John. 'My Bonny Bonny Boy', published in 'English County Songs' became one of Lucy's favourite songs. It was Lucy Broadwood who suggested that Hampshire was a promising county for Gardiner cto collect in.

ALICE GILLINGTON

Alice Gillington came to live in the southern New Forest in the early twentieth century. She lived in a gypsy caravan and got on well with local gypsys, from whom she collected many songs. She published 'Eight Hampshire Folk Songs' in 1907, and 'Songs of the Road' in 1912. She also published books of childrens games. A follow-up book of songs 'Travellers Joy' never materialised. Mike Yates CD of gypsy song recordings 'Travellers Joy' is dedicated to her. It is unfortunate that she left no notes on her song collecting, and it is not now possible to trace the singers who gave songs to her.
Her books have some great songs, and they are especially valuable as George Gardiner did not collect from the southern New Forest area.

BOB COPPER

Bob Copper of the famouse Sussex singing family tape-recorded singers in Sussex and Hampshire for the BBC. He came to live in Cheriton in 1955 and he located a number of singers in the northeast of Hampshire who were still singing traditional folk songs. He recorded Enos White, George Fosbury, Frank Bond, Frank Cole, Ben Butcher and others. These tape-recordings give us an audio link with the songs noted by Gardiner 50 years before in this strong singing area.