SPRING/SUMMER 2013 No. 101 - Devon Folk

Hilary Bix charts the development of a group
who keep alive the old Exmoor carols
I am very proud to be part of The Exmoor Carolers.
We are a group of eleven singers and musicians
that, over the last seven years, have been going out
to churches and halls all over North Devon and
Exmoor singing the carols that were popular on
Exmoor about 150 years ago - the Exmoor Carols.
The roots of our group go back to about 1993 when
Tony Piper from the North Devon Maritime Folk
Group ‘Hearts of Oak’ visited an old friend and
fellow singer, Jim Sanders.
Jim was born in 1921 at Thornworthy Farm up on
the hills above Barbrook and lived all his life in the
area and from 1945 at Southstock farm. As well as
being a successful farmer he was always known
locally as a great ‘character’ and singer who had
a wealth of local songs, which could be heard
regularly at Rockford, Lynton and later at Brendon
and in fact at many a local gathering.
On that July day in 1993, with the aid of strawberries
and cream and a wee drop of whisky, Tony spent
a pleasant evening recording Jim singing his songs
amongst which were some Wassail songs and 4 of
the traditional Exmoor Carols in our repertoire.
These were: All Hail my Friends, In a Manger
Laid so Lowly, Hark, Hark What News and Angels
Rejoice.
As well as running their regular monthly singing
nights and performing locally and at festivals at
home and abroad, Hearts of Oak also organised
carol concerts in the lead up to Christmas. Jim’s
carols were included along with some collected by
fellow group member John Parker.
the Mountains, which, years later, he learned was
known locally as The Lynton Carol. John met
up with Dennis and Cicely Corner from Porlock
who introduced him to some more local people
including the Doctor and the Vicar there who
provided him with words and music to a number of
Porlock carols and other carols that we have since
found had come from Roadwater and Exford.
It was John’s idea to draw together a group of
singers to form The Exmoor Carolers. Tony Piper
and Rupert Kirby, former Hearts of Oak members,
agreed to join and John then invited 7 others, 5
women and 2 more men to make up the group.
Rupert agreed to be our ‘musical director’ being
a music reader and a very experienced musician
and teacher. He has interpreted the written music
for the group and led rehearsals developing
arrangements with individual members working
out their own harmonies. Many of the carols are
sung unaccompanied, but for others we have
a grand mixture of accompaniments with such
instruments as ddle, viola, guitar, melodeon and
hand bells.
We meet up annually in September and discuss
our programme for the season, every year adding
a couple of ‘new’ Exmoor carols to our repertoire.
We also have carols that have been written by
members of the group, a couple of which we
like to include each year at our concerts. We also
sing some well-known congregational carols for
everyone to join in.
Hearts of Oak disbanded after 25 years in 2006
but John Parker had always had an interest in the
traditional Carols of Exmoor and was determined
to carry on. Many years before he had been given
some carols by Totnes collectors Sam Richards
and Tish Stubbs including, How Beautiful upon
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