What’s On - Vaughan Williams in Meldreth

What’s On

Vaughan Williams in Meldreth

On Friday March 8th at 7.30 pm a concert will be held at The Hub in Melbourn as an open event and thank you to all the people of Meldreth and Melbourn who have supported the river Mel Waterlight film project in many different ways. This event is prior to the first screening of the film which takes place later in the year.

The evening will consist of an introductory reading and talk from Bruce Huett and poets who participated in the project but the main part of the evening will be spent with award winning and well respected musicians Penni Mclaren Walker and Bryan Causton. For the first half of the evening Penni and Bryan will perform versions of the original songs and tunes which were collected by Vaughn Williams when he lived in Meldreth as a young man after graduating from Trinity College Cambridge. The second half of the evening will include some poems and songs from Fensong, A Ballad of the Fen, a collaboration with poet Clare Crossman, Penni McLaren Walker and Bryan Causton and songs from the folk tradition.

Vaughan Williams was concerned with the fact that the tunes of the old folk singers or simply the country people who sang them would be lost forever and so decided to write them down before that happened. In 1906 he and his wife Adeline came to Meldreth for a summer holiday and they returned for visits in 1907. They leased a large house called The Warren at the north end of the village. A picture of this can be seen at: www.meldrethhistory.org.uk/page_id__121_ img__369.aspx. It stood on its own surrounded by fields. He cycled a great deal and in 1906 Meldreth had its own station so it was easy to make day trips through the surrounding areas. In the area of the river Mel he collected songs in Orwell, Bassingbourn, Fowlmere, Little Shelford and Royston. He rode out to pubs where the singers traditionally performed. In Meldreth it was Ginger Clayton, in Fowlmere it was Hoppy Flack. In Bassingbourn, Mr Harmon and Orwell Billy Waggs. He may have been told about the source singers by Lucy Broadwood, Secretary of the Folk Song Society, but many songs could have been collected by chance encounters. Most of the singers were farm workers or in the labouring trades.

From Hoppy Flack in Fowlmere he collected May Song and Lord Ellenwater. John Valentine Harman (Harmon) was an agricultural labourer who lived at the Tan Yard in Bassingbourn with his wife and 7 children. The Lakes of Cold Fen was collected from him. Georgie was collected from an unnamed singer in 1907. In Fowlmere, The Green Bushes. Mr Wiltshire, inmate of Royston union, in 1907 with the traditional text of The Tress They Do Grow High. Ginger Clayton provided a Meldreth text completed from the Broadside. Most of these people would have been illiterate so they sang their literature.

Much of Williams’ annotation is held in the Rare books and Manuscripts Room of the British Library. Many of the songs were known to him in other variants and the words were available as published broadsides but they were sung in this area and know by those who sang them and heard by those who listened. The authorship of many British folk songs is largely unknown. The words invented added to a tune and passed on and resung if liked. Joan Baez sang a version of The Trees Do Grow High

The trees they do grow high and the leaves they do grow green.

The days are gone and past my love that you and I have seen.

It’s a cold winters night my love that I must lie alone.

My bonny lad is young but he is growing. The tune she sings is in a major key whereas the tune collected by Vaughan Williams is in a minor key and far more wistful and melancholic. You can hear it sung with this tune by Bert Jansch when he was singer with Pentangle on YouTube.

At the concert the music will be performed on guitar mandolin and bzouki with vocals.

Entry is by programme on the door with a suggested donation of £6.00, £12.00 for two parents with children. Tickets cannot be bought in advance but a seat can be reserved via EventBright so we can make sure there is a place for you. I am greatly indebted to Cambridgeshire folk singer Mary Humphreys whose careful research in manuscripts at the British Library and the Vaughan Williams Memorial Library has made the task of finding these songs very easy. Her book Folk songs collected in Cambridgeshire compiled by Mary Humphreys and published by Hedingham Fair would be available direct from her at mary@maryhumphreys.co.uk.

Bryan Causton and Penni Mclaren Walker

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Do have a look! And good to know, as always, that the Melbourn Hub has four laptops to use free of charge – so it’s not necessary to own an expensive smartphone or computer of your own. Any questions, please contact Philippa. Brexit – local authority planning South Cambs has been working for some months with the Federation of Small Business and the Chamber of Commerce to provide information to small and medium sized business owners, but there’s concern that most businesses don’t have the resource to plan for anticipated impacts of Brexit.

Cambs County Council sits on a regional contingency planning group that is tracking things like fuel, food and medicine shortages. The Council’s immediate responsibilities include providing information for non-British EU residents on Settled Status applications, and ensuring that the Council’s workforce, including care workers and schools staff, can get to work in the event of fuel and public transport difficulties – though solutions are not immediately obvious.

As explained in the segment above on Policing, our Police are concentrated together for impact in the event of emergencies. As part of Brexit contingency planning, in the event of civil unrest in larger population areas like London, Cambs Police may be deployed out of county.

Longer term there is concern around loss of EU Regional funding, and any negative impact on the economy that exacerbates poverty and inequalities.

And while new burdens are starting to be placed on local authorities, there is no ‘New Burdens Funding’ from government.

Finally, we’re really grateful to our MP Heidi Allen for her detailed attention to these practical issues – we’ll be working together wherever possible.

Please bother us! If you’re stuck with any questions or concerns, for example benefits claims and council tax, please contact us – it’s what we’re here for and we are better informed through what we learn from our residents.

Councillor Drop-in Advice Surgeries: Melbourn Hub, 4 February 3-4 pm. Or contact us any time.

District Councillors: Philippa Hart, Philippajoyhart@gmail.com, 07811323571, Jose Hales, jose@josehales.me.uk, 07703 262649. County Councillor: Susan van de Ven, susanvandeven5@gmail. com, www.susanvandeven.com, 07905325574

Class time for Susan at Melbourn Village College

In January I was lucky enough to drop in at MVC for a Citizenship lesson, and to learn about Amazing Young Carers. Visit to Citizenship Class – a treat The vibrant and thoughtful students I met in Mr Tobutt’s Citizenship Class recently had plenty to say about their role in society, as well as current affairs not just in the UK but around the world.

Almost everyone in the class was in favour of bringing the voting age down to 16: ‘In a few years we’ll be living with the consequences of decisions taken now’.

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