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A Garland Of Songs And Dances
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| The Church, at Etchingham |
During 1974 and 1975 Shirley Collins and Ashley Hutchings led a remarkable acoustic
ensemble playing the traditional music of southern England, around the folk clubs and festivals of Britain. Twenty-seven years
later, this important historical collection draws upon a number of private live recordings.
Named after the village in Sussex where he and Shirley Collins were living, the
Etchingham Steam Band was an all-acoustic project of Ashley Hutchings, put together in early 1974 and featuring Shirley Collins
as vocalist (who had earlier contributed similar material to both "No Roses" and "Morris On"). Initially formed around the
nucleus of Shirley, Ashley, Ian Holder and Terry Potter (with occasional contributions from Simon Nicol), it transmuted into
a larger, more flexible operation around mid 1974 with, at various times, contributions from Will Duke, Mel Dean, Vic Gammon,
Dave Mattacks, and even Peter Knight (according to Pete Frame's "Rock Family Trees"), plus Eddie Upton as dance caller. Eventually,
a subset of the Etchinghams became the more "electric" Albion Dance Band, in 1975, which included Dave Mattacks as more of
a permanent drummer (shared with Fairport Convention duties), and brought Graeme Taylor (ex Gryphon) and John Tams (ex Muckram
Wakes) into the Hutchings fold for the first time.
The personnel varies on each track:
Shirley Collins, vocals; Ashley
Hutchings, Tambourine, Vocals, Acoustic Bass; Ian Holder, Accordion; Dave Mattacks, Drums; Terry Potter, Mouth Organ; Mel
Dean, Concertina; Will Duke, Concertina; Vic Gammon, Banjo, Concertina, Vocals, Melodeon.
All tracks Trad. arr. Etchingham Steam Band
Tracks 1-4 recorded 1975, Lenzburg Folk Festival, Switzerland
Tracks
5, 7, 14 recorded 1974, Norwich Folk Festival
Tracks 6, 10 recorded December 1975, `Nova Scotia', Bristol
Track 8 recorded
October 1974, London
Track 9 recorded December 1974, Cecil Sharp House London
Tracks 11-12 recorded July 1975, Lewes
Folk Festival, afternoon session
Track 13 recorded July 1975, Lewes Folk Festival, evening session
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A Little Music
A collection of folk songs, instrumental tunes and dances
selected and compiled by
Ashley Hutchings
Copyright © 1976 Island Music Ltd
no ISBN, Order# IS 5176 E
Introduction by Fred Woods
This songbook contains titles from various groups and albums into which
Ashley Hutchings has been involved, i.e. Fairport Convention, Steeleye Span, Albion Country Band, Etchingham Steam Band and
Albion Dance Band:
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Nottamun Town
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A Sailor's Life
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Matty Groves
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The Deserter
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Beg Your Leave
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Willow Tree / Bean Setting / Shooting
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Cuckoo's Nest
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Sir Roger De Coverley
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Off She Goes
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Three Handed Reel
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College Hornpipe
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Gallant Poacher
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Come All You Little Streamers
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Three Jolly Black Sheepskins
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Old Sir Simon The King
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Hopping Down In Kent
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Come All You Little Streamers
Oh come all you little streamers wherever you may be
These are the finest flowers that ever my eyes did
see.
Fine flowery hills and fishing dells and hunting also
At the top of yonder mountain where fine flowers grow.
At the top all of the mountains where my love's castle stands
It's over-decked with ivory to the bottom
of the strand.
There's arches and there's parches and a diamond stone so bright;
It's a beacon for a sailor on a dark,
stormy night.
At the bottom of the mountain there runs a river clear.
A ship from the Indies did once anchor there,
With
her red flags a-flying and the beating of a drum
Sweet instruments of music and the firing of her gun.
So come all you little streamers that walks the meadows gay
And write unto my own true love wherever he
may be
For his sweet lips entice me, but his tongue it tells me “No!”
And an angel might direct us and it's
where shall we go
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Ashley Hutchings notes in his songbook, A Little Music:
This strange song comes from Ned Spooner of Midhurst, Sussex, (although other,
similar, versions exist). It was printed in the Journal of the Folk-Song Society, No. 17, 1913, together
with exhaustive notes on its possible origin. In short, it is suggested that there is a religious mystical allegory in its
background. I would refer those who would like to know more to the article.
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| FLED 3002 (1995). recorded. 1974-5 |
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1. Hard Times of Old
England
7. Come All You Little Streamers
11. Grandmother's Dance /
Grandfather's Dance
13. The Little Gypsy Girl
14. Black Joker
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Etchingham and Sussex
Links
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the role of Action in rural Sussex
has been, and still is, to
identify problems and to
respond to the needs
of rural communities
the Etchingham Community Stores
opened for business on
Saturday June 14th 2003,
as a community owned and run shop,
owned by the shareholders of the
Etchingham Community Shop
Association Ltd.
massive thanks go out to
the link to his
Etchingham Village website.
and, Colin, many thanks for the
mention on your Etchingham forum
From 2nd-9th July 2005 at
Etchingham Parish Church
come one, come all
this beautiful West Sussex
village has a website all of
its own, maintained by the
incredibly talented Valerie Martin.
this link takes you to a page we
created on our
Rise Up Like The Sun website.
with all the links you'll need
to get to Valerie's website
To provide access to information
that is often difficult to find.
To make it interesting to students
and others, of all ages and abilities.
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Song, Wassail, Morris And Mumming
A traditional music and
folk music archive
of reference and
educational materials
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