50p No. 88 Winter 2008/2009 - Devon Folk

Reviews
AS I WENT DOWN TO HORSHAM
Mabs & Gordon Hall VT115 CD
WILD WILD BERRY:
The songs of Ray Driscoll Artension CD
103
Receiving these two albums for review within a
short time period is particularly appropriate and
there is much value in considering them together.
Both reect the time before the folk song revival
of the mid twentieth century; both reect a time
before the prime concern was the audience, a
time when singing was relaxed, a way of life. The
singing is effortless: the listener is transported
into the company of the singers. The delight
of the singers in their songs is conveyed by the
easy style in which they sing. Ray Driscoll and
Gordon Hall carried a tradition that would have
excited Baring-Gould or Sharp into the 21st
century, while Mabs, Gordon’s mother, passed
away in 1992.
The material on both CDs comprises classic
ballads, folk songs, Victoriana and musical
hall songs plus a selection from the what some
might consider the periphery of the traditional
song genre such as football chants, fragments,
nonsense rhymes. It is probably true to say that
most of the population would be able to sing
something appropriate although whether they
would be willing to do so when faced with
a specic request is not so sure. It would be
rare, however, to nd anyone with the range of
material and even rarer to nd someone who
had learned them from other family members. If
asked to produce a recording, they would practice
to create a performance style.
Looking rst at As I Went Down to Horsham
Town, Mabs Hall was born in 1899 and had a hard
life. When these recordings were made she was
well into her 80s, a fact that shows in her voice,
which was likely to have been stronger when she
was in her prime. Mabs died in 1992. Gordon
(1932 – 2000), her son, worked at various selfemployed
and labouring jobs over the years and
had retired by the time the recordings were made.
He had become interested in the songs, was in
touch with the revival and is more conscious
36
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A lively traditional dance band
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01626 871 260
of the sense of history and uniqueness of their
family tradition. The songs came from the family
singing tradition at parties and celebrations.
There are some wonderful tracks, unknown to
the majority of people, for example The Royal
George about the sinking of the ship in 1782, The
Bitter Whaling Ground, and Banks of Inverness,
and two First War songs, Salonika and Blandford
in the Mud. Gordon also sings full versions of
The Outlandish Knight and The Horsham Ram,
elsewhere known as The Derby Ram. Songs
when Mabs and Gordon sing together, such as
Come Write Me Down, the close attachment that
they have to each other is tangible.
With the CD comes a 20 page booklet, giving
biographies, details of songs, pictures and all the
other stuff that Veteran does so well. The words
to the songs can be found at www.veteran.co.uk
Ray Driscoll was born in County Mayo in 1922,
the singer on Wild, Wild, Berry, moved to London
with his family, was evacuated to Shropshire,
served in the Royal Navy before returning to
London and then to Shropshire, where he died in
2005. He was aware of the songs importance and
the contemporary audience to which he warmed,
while still retaining the unforced performance.
Versions of Sir Patrick Spens, and The Death
of Queen Jane, and the very rare Oh Mariners
All are delightful. There are signs of the Irish
connection with Glen Swili and The Irish Soldier
Boy. Hopping Down in Kent is obviously from
London days, as is We are the Peckham Boys,
which was a widespread localised song while
the Shropshire Football Song and the Hanwood
Carols, come from his time in Shropshire.
More comprehensive sleeve notes would be
greatly appreciated, for Wild, Wild, Berry.