288 Rev. S. Baring-Gould on English Folk Song. [May 11, 



derived from the opera music of the last century. The German 

 Volks-Lieder-Schatz is made up to a vast extent of compositions by 

 cultured musicians of the end of last century and the beginning of the 

 nineteenth, as Kreuzer, Nageli, Reichardt, Silcher, Weber, &c, and 

 only a small percentage are really spontaneous productions of the 

 people themselves. I do not assert that the peasant song in England 

 is utterly uncultured music ; I believe that there has always been, 

 and in almost every village, an element of musical culture, fostered 

 by the parish orchestra in the west gallery of the church ; and that 

 most — nearly all — of our folk airs have been composed by men of no 

 musical note beyond their own parishes, but not without musical 

 knowledge — men with hearts full of melody and heads with a 

 knowledge of musical rule, and themselves belonging to the peasant 

 class. 



There is something even in music to be learned from our healthy 

 English peasantry. None of the mawkishness of the French muse, 

 but a robustness, a freshness, a joyousness, sometimes a pathos, in 

 character with the people from whom these airs sprang. 



If a musician desires to enjoy an unusual holiday, and reap a 

 good and delightful harvest, let him take my advice. Let him put 

 on an old coat and hat and go on a tramp through England, lodging 

 at little taverns, and associate with the labourers in fields and over 

 the tavern table, and about the tavern fire. 



There is no time to be lost. Every winter with its storms sweeps 

 away some of our old singers. The young know nothing; the 

 middle-aged nothing. I sat over a peat fire with a Scottish shepherd 

 one night and asked him to sing to me, and he gave me nothing but 

 music-hall balderdash. But then he was a young man. Many of 

 the oldest singers can no longer be heard in the public-houses, they 

 must be sought out in their humble homes. 



A good many of the folk songs being in Gregorian modes, or 

 having startling intervals, and being irregular in construction, 

 puzzle the ear. It is some time before we become accustomed to the 

 new style — or rather to the old style, so new to us accustomed to the 

 dilute treacle of the modern song. But it is worth while becoming 

 acquainted with it. 



Finally, even suppose that this rustic muse of ours have not all 

 the charms I claim for her, suppose that she be a little lacking in 

 the languor of the drawing-room and the affectation of the stage, 

 yet surely the Englishman should regard her with respect, with 

 love, and say of her, as said Touchstone of Audry, " A poor thing, 

 sir — but mine own." 



[S. B.-G.] 



