The Parson & the Songmen

Author: Mike Bosworth

The Reverend Sabine Baring Gould was an exceptional parson and squire from Devonshire, England. He is probably best remembered as the composer of the hymn 'Onward Christian Soldiers'.Born in Exeter in 1834, he died at his estate, Lewtrenchard Manor in West Devon, in 1924.As 2024 is the centenary of his death it gives me the opportunity to spotlight what he considered to be the most important achievement of his life, that of collecting the old folk songs of Devonshire, and later Cornwall, as he termed it, 'from the mouths of the people'.Join me as I tell stories about, and sing songs from, this far from ordinary Victorian country parson as he travelled by pony and trap across his native Devonshire seeking out songs that now form a major part of the English folk song tradition.
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Language: en-gb

Genres: History, Music, Music History

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S4 1 I Can't Stop!
Episode 1
Tuesday, 27 January, 2026

Send us a textWelcome to this first episode in the fourth series of The Parson and the Songmen!We kick the series off in fine style by meeting Cornwall-based singer/songwriter Chris Hytch and hearing some of the songs from his band Annown's CD 'A Half A Face'.Chris has a passion for Cornish folklore and history and has the uncanny knack of being able to take an old, old story, give it some extra twists and turns, maybe add a bit of humour, and end up with a fresh-sounding, clever, modern song.In fact, such is Chris's appetite to seek out new folklore or history and turn them into fresh songs that he will openly admit... "I can't stop!"Intrigued? Well listen on.https://www.facebook.com/chris.hytch/?locale=en_GBhttps://www.annown.co.uk/https://annown.bandcamp.com/Support the showPLEASE VISIT mikebosworth.uk FOR ALL LINKS TO INTERVIEWEES ETC Mike's website: mikebosworth.uk https://www.facebook.com/people/The-Parson-and-the-Songmen/100093220748945/ Mike's YouTube page:https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=thimblerigg+videos Sabine Baring-Gould Centenary Celebration Group: https://www.sbgcentenary.co.uk/ Simon Mayor: mandolin.co.uk Mike O'Connor: http://www.lyngham.co.uk/ Barbara Griggs: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Children-Arganteilin-Harp-Cornwall/dp/0954106857 Pete Coe: https://petecoe.co.uk/ Castle Heritage Centre, Bude: https://www.thecastlebude.co.uk/ Devon Association of Ringers: https://www.devonbells.co.uk/ Wren Music: https://www.wrenmusic.co.uk/