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Author Topic: Kintbury, Hungerford, Berkshire  (Read 2240 times)

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busbox

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Kintbury, Hungerford, Berkshire
« on: January 03, 2018, 09:20:56 PM »

Just wondering whether any melnetters are situated around Kintbury, Hungerford or Berkshire generally. I am keen to become more familiar with the traditional music of the area since I discovered a great great grandfather from there. Charles Green was transported to Oz for his part in the agricultural riots of 1830. I am familiar with Owslebury Lads from Hampshire to the south and I have come across Magpie Lane from the north.
Thanks, Tony
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Tone Dumb Greg

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Re: Kintbury, Hungerford, Berkshire
« Reply #1 on: January 04, 2018, 12:30:22 AM »

I went to school in Kintbury. No help to you, I'm afraid.
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ACCORDION, n. An instrument in harmony with the sentiments of an assassin. Ambrose Bierce

smiley

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Re: Kintbury, Hungerford, Berkshire
« Reply #2 on: January 04, 2018, 10:20:26 PM »

Hi Tony, it looks like we're both doing some genealogy research while its so hot outside. I've been looking at where many generations of my mother's family lived around Wheatley-Horspath-Littleworth and Cholsey-Hagbourne-Wallingford. We must be related ;D

I too wondered if there are any traditional music sessions around those parts that I might visit sometime. Wish I'd known these connections when I was dancing Headington tradition with a morris side in Sydney years ago.

cheers, Ian
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JonathanC

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Re: Kintbury, Hungerford, Berkshire
« Reply #3 on: January 05, 2018, 09:21:54 AM »

Hi Busbox

I live in Marlborough in Wilts and play for a Morris side in Hungerford.  Our side also has strong morris links to Kintbury.
Anything I can do to help?

Cheers
Jonathan
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busbox

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Re: Kintbury, Hungerford, Berkshire
« Reply #4 on: January 05, 2018, 09:34:27 PM »

Thanks for yours Jonathan
I appreciate your offer of help and wish I could be more specific.
I wonder whether you play any Morris tunes which you regard as local to Kintbury?
I am pretty much ignorant of the geography and the culture there. I came across an example of
a recording of a man with a supposedly typical accent and he spoke - at length - about killing pigs.
Anyway, I didn't want to put anyone to any great trouble. I just thought that if anyone had something in their repertoire which might give me a lead, I could follow that up.
I have since discovered that ancestor Charles Green rubbed down a penny and inscribed it 'When this you see remember me until I gain my liberty'. An English man there brought it over to Oz on a visit last year. trivia, but nice.
Cheerio
Tony
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JonathanC

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Re: Kintbury, Hungerford, Berkshire
« Reply #5 on: January 08, 2018, 09:16:52 AM »

Hi Tony.

If you PM me your email address I'll put you touch with someone who has already done a fair bit of research in Kintbury and may have something.
Cheers
Jonathan
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Rob2Hook

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Re: Kintbury, Hungerford, Berkshire
« Reply #6 on: January 08, 2018, 07:34:38 PM »

I hope you find some history, though music is so universal it would be unusual to be able to define a tune as genuinely "local".

Until a couple of years ago there was a morris side in Kintbury, albeit a revival one.  They were called the "Kintbury May Maids" a ladies Cotswold side.  Like most sides, the average age spiralled upward until they referred to themselves as the "Old Maids" and finally decided to disband.  I don't recall any of their dance tunes being unique to the side.

Rob.
« Last Edit: January 08, 2018, 07:37:42 PM by Rob2Hook »
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busbox

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Re: Kintbury, Hungerford, Berkshire
« Reply #7 on: January 08, 2018, 07:58:32 PM »

Thank you all for the valuable assistance.
On the Hungerford virtual museum site there is a song/verse 'The Ballad of William Smith'.
It was submitted by an E.Rooney in 2006. I have not thus far been able to locate author or tune.
Lots of interesting history about the men transported aboard the Eleanor, but not much musical.
Seems to be plenty happening in Wiltshire?
Cheerio
Tony
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JonathanC

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Re: Kintbury, Hungerford, Berkshire
« Reply #8 on: January 09, 2018, 09:25:20 AM »

Until a couple of years ago there was a morris side in Kintbury, albeit a revival one.  They were called the "Kintbury May Maids" a ladies Cotswold side. 

Rob.


Yes Rob,  that is the side I have links with.  Although they no longer exist a new mixed side was formed just up the road called 'The Garston Gallopers' and several of the Kintbury maids are still involved in that.  We still use some of the Kintbury dances.  I have put Tony in touch with Penny who is the  person most likely to be able to give any more clues ...
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busbox

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Re: Kintbury, Hungerford, Berkshire
« Reply #9 on: January 09, 2018, 08:36:08 PM »

Just want to thank everyone again for the great assistance on this question of the Swing riots.
I am getting good feedback and am amazed at the way people in rural Britain value their history.
I suppose you would expect traditional musicians to have a good appreciation of the past.
It really is a privilege to share in the process.
Cheerio
Tony
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Derek Shaw

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Re: Kintbury, Hungerford, Berkshire
« Reply #10 on: January 11, 2018, 04:07:24 PM »

Ok, folk music in or near Kintbury.

As far as I am aware there was little folk dance tune  collecting  carried out in Kintbury, however there was a mumming play there (ref attached ) https://www.vwml.org.uk/search?qtext=Kintbury. Also further east there was a grouop of folk dancers in newbury in the late 1800's.  To the south there was folk dance colected in Wiltshire, and the tune and Dance  Wiltshire 6 hand reel, ref here from Seend and also were were friendly society Stave dance collected from there as well. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stave_dancing. it is likely that the friendly societies all had there own dances in Berkshire but none of these appear to have been collected.
further colections in the VML library indicate a wealth of material from Berkshire https://www.vwml.org.uk/search?qtext=berkshire&ts=1515677197633#record=6.

It is known that there were town bands  and local groups of musicians in that area, and there are irrgular mentiosn of them in the 'what happened a hundred years ago' sections of for example the Newbury Weekly News https://www.newburytoday.co.uk/ but I have not been able to find any notation for tunes that may have been palyed or dances that were danced. I will presume that the repertoir of both musicians and dancers was a fairly general mix of what we would call country dances, social dances and comic glee's and light operatic works that were prevalent up to and just after the early part of the 20th Century
In terms of Folk song the most local collector was Alfred williams, from Swindon a number of miles west of Kintbury, he collected words of songs from amonsgt others, shepherds on the Marlborough downs, on which Kintbury sits http://www.swindonweb.com/index.asp?m=8&s=9&ss=275. He was  a poet and interested in the words of the songs and poetry not music, he therefore did not collect the tunes, only noted down any names of tunes that he came across.  His best known folk work is Songs of the Upper Thames.

The only tune that he noted that was dance tune was ' the white cock hen' ( white cockade) that he said Bampton Morris danced in Highworth ( North of Swindon ) on one of their visits.

But all is not lost, there are  people writing new tunes in the folk style that if deemed to be good enough will go into the repertoire as local folk songs and tunes from the area.

DrDezza
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busbox

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Re: Kintbury, Hungerford, Berkshire
« Reply #11 on: January 11, 2018, 07:45:02 PM »

Thanks Derek
all these suggestions are very helpful.
One thing we Aussies have trouble appreciating is how distances were understood differently in England long ago.
Interesting too that tunes can turn up in nearby places with different names.
All part of the folk process. All great learning.
Cheerio
Tony
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