Recorded by Tony Engle in the singer's home in Snape, Suffolk, in July 1972;
Produced by Tony Engle;
Notes by A.L. Lloyd;
Sleeve design and front cover photograph by Tony Engle

Musicians

Bob Hart: vocals

Tracks

Side 1

1. Cod Banging-O (Roud 1747) (1.20)
2. Australia (Roud 1488) (2.01)
3. A Broadside (Roud 492; Laws N4; G/D 1:180) (2.27)
4. The Banks of Sweet Primroses (Roud 586; G/D 8:1841)
5. What a Funny Little Place to Have One (Roud 1495)
6. Bold General Wolfe (Roud 624)
7. The Female Cabin Boy (Roud 239; Laws N13; G/D 1:181) (2.26)

Side 2

8. As I Strolled Out to Aylesbury (Roud 364)
9. The Scarlet and the Blue (Roud 163; TYG 32)
10. John Barleycorn (Roud 164; G/D 3:559)
11. The Miner's Dream of Home (Roud 1749)
12. The Young Sailor Cut Down (Roud 2; Laws Q26; G/D 7:1404; Henry H680)
13. All Jolly Fellows That Follow the Plough (Roud 346; G/D 3:418)
14. Underneath Her Apron (Roud 899; G/D 7:1493)

All tracks trad. except
Track 5 Harry Wincott;
Track 11 Will Godwyn, Leo Dryden, 1891

Bob Hart was recorded by Tony Engle in the singer's home at Snape, Suffolk, September 1973;
Ernest Austin was recorded by Tony Engle at Bentley, Essex, November 1973;
Percy Webb was recorded at The King's Head, Upper St. Islington, 1968;
Production and sleeve design by Tony Engle;
Sleeve notes by Mike Yates;
Photographs by Alan Martindale (Bob Hart), Tony Engle (Ernest Austin), and East Anglian Daily Times (Percy Webb)

Musicians

Bob Hart: vocals [1-2, 7-8, 10, 12];
Percy Webb: vocals [3-6];
Ernest Austin: vocals [9, 11]

Tracks

Side 1

1. [BH] The Bold Princess Royal (Roud 528; Laws K29; G/D 1:47)
2. [BH] Seventeen Come Sunday (Roud 277; Laws O17; G/D 4:791; Henry H152)
3. [PW] The Faithful Sailor Boy (Roud 376; Laws K13; G/D 1:66; Henry H543)
4. [PW] Flash Company (Roud 954)
5. [PW] Wheel Your P'rambulator (Roud 1496)
6. [PW] Go and Leave Me (Roud 459; G/D 6:1145)

Side 2

7. [BH] The Farmer's Servant (Rap-a-Tap-Tap) (Roud 792)
8. [BH] The Song of the Thrush (Roud 1763)
9. [EA] John Barleycorn (Roud 164; G/D 3:559)
10. [BH] The Gypsy's Warning (Roud 1764)
11. [EA] Hares on the Mountain / The Knife in the Window (Roud 32572)
12. [BH] Barbara Allen (Roud 54; Child 84; G/D 6:1193; Henry H236)

All songs trad.

Sleeve Notes

Seventy years ago Ralph Vaughan Williams collected his first folksong when he noted Bushes and Briars from Mr Pottipher of Ingrave, near Brentwood in Essex. To Vaughan Williams it was a labour of love. “I could imagine a much less profitable way of spending a long winter evening,” he wrote, “than in the parlour of a country inn taking one’s turn at the mug of ‘four-ale’ in the rare company of minds imbued with that fine sense which comes from advancing years and a life-long communion with nature—and with the ever-present chance of picking up some rare old ballad or an exquisitely beautiful melody, worthy, within its small compass, of a place beside the finest compositions of the greatest composers.” Although collectors were then active in other parts of England time has shown that it is only in East Anglia that such traditions now remain to anything like a similar extent.

The Irish composer E.J. Moeran, who had collected songs from Harry Cox in the 1920s, returned to Norfolk and Suffolk in 1948 and was surprised to find at least one Suffolk pub where “every Saturday night the company, male and female, assemble in a low ceilinged room, and through a haze of smoke from strong shag tobacco the chairman can be seen presiding over the singsong (or ‘frolic’ in local parlance) calling in turn for a contribution on those of the company he sees fit to honour.” On this present recording the singers are elderly and it is interesting to note what Moeran had to say on this subject. “One of the singers there was a man of about fifty who learned his songs from his father. The latter was also present, singing in the quavering and asthmatic tones of old age, but it was only recently that he had allowed the young man of fifty … to ‘perform in public’ for he was determined that he must acquire the true traditional style, uncontamined by outside influences, before so doing.”

Ernest Austin is now 83 years of age and he lives in a small village to the east of Colchester in Essex. He left school at 12 to work as a kitchen boy in a farmhouse, earning 3/6d in return for a 60-hour week. For most of his early life he worked on the land as a farm labourer until, with experience, he became an agricultural engineer, retiring at the age of 70.

Percy Webb has also spent most of his working life on the land. He was born in 1897 at Herningstone, a small Suffolk village where his father was a shepherd. Percy fought in the Great War as an infantryman in the Royal West Kents, seeing service in France and later in India. On his return he settled for agricultural work and joined the Framlingham Horse Society in 1937, the experience that he had gained working with horses standing him in good stead. Now aged 77 he still works in a chemist’s shop in Woodbridge. Percy learnt most of his songs from his father, who not only sang but played the concertina, accordion and mouth organ as well and, like his father before him, he may still be heard singing at weekends in his local pub.

Bob Hart is another singer who likes to perform in company. He was born in 1892 and, although originally a farm worker, he left home to work on the steam trawlers that fished the east coast of Britain from Grimsby to the Shetlands and back. His songs, and he knows more than a few, were picked up from work mates and casual acquaintances as well as from friends and relatives at home. A further selection from his repertoire can be heard on his solo album Songs from Suffolk.

All tracks recorded by Rod and Danny Stradling in Bob Hart's home in Snape, Suffolk, on 8 July 1969 except
Tracks 2-3, 5, 8, 10-11, 14, 17, 19, 21-22, 27, 34, 38-44, 46 recorded by Bill Leader in Bob Hart's home later in 1969

Musical Traditions booklet notes by Rod Stradling

Musicians

Bob Hart: vocals

Tracks

CD 1

1. Come All You Young Fellows (Australia) (Roud 1488) (2.20)
2. Comrades (Roud 1494) (5.39)
3. And His Day's Work Was Done (Roud 12908) (2.32)
4. All Jolly Fellows That Follow the Plough (Roud 346; G/D 3:418) (3.02)
5. The Miner's Dream of Home (Roud 1749) (4.22)
6. On the Banks of Allen Water (Roud 4260) (1.48)
7. As I Strolled Out to Aylesbury (Roud 364) (2.38)
8. Tom Bowling (Roud 1984; TYG 84) (3.53)
9. Barbara Allen (Roud 54; Child 84; G/D 6:1193; Henry H236) (2.07)
10. The Song of the Thrush (Roud 1763) (5.10)
11. A Broadside (Roud 492; Laws N4; G/D 1:180) (2.47)
12. One Touch of Nature (Roud 12909) (3.44)
13. The Mermaid (Roud 124; Child 289; G/D 1:27) (3.53)
14. The Banks of Sweet Primroses (Roud 586; G/D 8:1841) (3.17)
15. Bonny Mary of Argyll (Roud 12904) (2.26)
16. John Barleycorn (Roud 164; G/D 3:559) (3.30)
17. City of Laughter, City of Tears (Roud 12905) (2.31)
18. Michael Larney-O (Roud 12913) (2.29)
19. The Bold Princess Royal (Roud 528; Laws K29; G/D 1:47) (3.50)
20. The Gypsy's Warning (Roud 1764) (4.13)
21. Jolly Jack the Sailor Lad (Roud 1785) (2.53)
22. Just Before the Battle, Mother (Roud 4263) (2.11)
23. The Farmer's Servant (Rap-a-Tap-Tap) (Roud 792) (2.26)

CD 2

24. What a Funny Little Place to Have One (Roud 1495) (3.25)
25. Bold General Wolfe (Roud 624) (4.16)
26. I'll Take You Home Again Kathleen (Roud 12907) (4.12)
27. Cod Banging-O (Roud 1747) (1.35)
28. Seventeen Come Sunday (Roud 277; Laws O17; G/D 4:791; Henry H152) (2.39)
29. Silver Threads Among the Gold (Roud 6403) (4.00)
30. Paradise Street (Blow the Man Down) (Roud 2624) (2.35)
31. White Wings (Roud 1753) (2.36)
32. A Young Sailor Cut Downin His Prime (Roud 2; Laws Q26/B1; G/D 7:1404; Henry H680) (3.55)
33. My Little Grey Home in the West (Roud 12911) (2.47)
34. The Female Cabin Boy (Roud 239; Laws N13; G/D 1:181) (3.04)
35. Why Shouldn't We Sing (Roud 12910) (2.18)
36. The Scarlet and the Blue (Roud 163; TYG 32) (2.28)
37. You Taught Me How to Love You (Roud 12918) (3.08)
38. The Drum Went Bang (Flanagan's Band) (Roud 12915) (2.26)
39. The Foggy Dew (Roud 558; Laws O3; G/D 7:1496) (3.36)
40. Won't You Buy My Pretty Flowers (Roud 12906) (2.08)
41. Break the News to Mother (Roud 4322) (3.27)
42. The Dark-Eyed Sailor (Roud 265; Laws N35; G/D 5:1037; Henry H232) (5.00)
43. The Hymns My Mother Used to Sing (Roud 12914) (3.02)
44. While Shepherds Watched (Roud 936) (2.37)
45. Underneath Her Apron (Roud 899; G/D 7:1493) (2.14)
46. Let the Rest of the World Go By (Roud 12912) (2.57)

All tracks trad. except
Track 5 Will Godwyn, Leo Dryden, 1891;
Track 24 Harry Wincott;