> Martin Carthy > Songs > Old Tom of Oxford / William and Nancy

Old Tom of Oxford / William and Nancy

[trad.]

Martin Carthy played the morris dance tune Old Tom of Oxford on his 1976 album Crown of Horn; this track was also included on his anthology The Definitive Collection. He commented in the original album’s sleeve notes:

I learned the morris dance tune Old Tom of Oxford from Rod Stradling, and it is included with the permission of Francis Shergold, Squire of the Bampton Morris Men, to whom thanks.

He played the two tunes Old Tom of Oxford and William and Nancy live at the Folkfestival ’76 Dranouter, and on 20 October 1978 at the Sunflower Folk Club, Belfast. A recording of this concert was released in 2011 on his CD The January Man.

Martin Carthy also played Old Tom of Oxford in 1993 on the instructional video British Fingerstyle Guitar; this lesson was also included in 2003 on the DVD Fingerstyle Guitar Vol. 3.

Magpie Lane played Old Tom of Oxford and Bonny Christ Church Bells in 1993 on their Beautiful Jo album of songs and tunes from Oxfordshire, The Oxford Ramble. They noted:

The morris tune comes from Bampton and is played on Sam Bennett’s fiddle, normally accompanying a handkerchief dance. It leads into an instrumental and sung version of Bonny Christ Church Bells. This is another round—unusually complex in its stanza form—composed by Christ Church’s Henry Aldrich. It was first published in 1673. Alfred Williams heard it being sung in the upper Thames area about 240 years later.