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Two associated music manuscripts in the Vaughan Williams Memorial
Library
3. In what way are they connected?
Presented to the Cecil Sharp (Vaughan Williams Memorial) Library
by Mrs W.R.Kettlewell Apr 1927
Vaughan Williams Memorial Library, Cecil Sharp House, London
QM2286
VMP code “WHG”
Transcribed into ABC notation and edited for The Village Music
Project by P.J.Headford, in 2009
This introduction based on notes made by P.J.Headford
A typical "fiddler's tune book", 71/2inches wide by 31/2inches
tall, hard-bound, four printed staves per page.
Containing 80 musical items. Mainly dance tunes, some song airs,
and hymns at the back.
On the cover, there is a later library label reading:-
"William Henry Giles
Bampton Fiddler
MS. Fiddle Tunes"
Inside cover are the rubber-stamped logo of ‘The English Folk
Dance Society’ and the following words in a 19thC hand:-
"William Henry Giles
Bampton
Octr. 21st.
1839"
The next page has a label reading:-
"Presented to the Cecil Sharp Library
By Mrs W.R.Kettlewell
Apr 1927"
The next page has (at the top left) QM (at the top centre) 2286
(at the top right) A/3A
Scrawled in a large, childish hand (in pencil) are the joined
letters LM.
The following page carries the first tune (The Conquering Hero).
In the top right is a pencilled number 1. These odd numbers
continue on each right-hand page. These numbers seem consistent,
so I cite them in the ABC file.
On page 2 is a tune - The Arab Steed - marked (in the title line,
in larger letters) Wrong. The tune area is also crossed through.
The tune is continued on page 3, where it is again crossed
through.
The tune "Quick Step" (WHG.032) has the inscription "June 2nd/41
12 oclock at Night". - the "/41" presumably refers to 1841.
Pages 50 and 51 have no tune notations on them.
Page 51 has, in a very childish hand:
Jack Pether, molly Pether, Cyril Pether
Teddy Pether, mary Shaylor, F G Pether.
There is no date associated with the Pether inscription, and I
have not established any connection between the Pether/Shaylor
family and the Giles family.
In typical nineteenth-century fashion, the book has been used from
each end, secular tunes from one end, sacred music from the other.
They meet on page 62 (counting from the labelled end). Some of the
sacred tunes have sections marked "Sym" (Symphony), which
indicates an instrumental passage.
A number of different pens have been used, and the titles are
sometimes cursive and sometimes elaborate block letter. However,
the very distinctive treble clef symbol unmistakably shows that
all the tunes and hymns were entered by the same person.
Throughout, Giles is inconsistent concerning the notation of
rests. I have therefore applied rest lengths which comply with the
arithmetic of each measure.
His use of repeat indications is often inconsistent.
My aim has been to provide (where possible) playable
interpretations of the tunes, and therefore include notes where I
have emended my reading of the MS to make this possible. Applying
the notes to the notation I give would therefore "reverse
engineer" that notation to give a fair indication of what I could
read of the MS.
Jenny Jones (WHG023) has three parts, two on the upper stave, one
on the lower, which has no clef, and a # on the top line. I tried
assuming treble clef (which made no sense) and bass clef. Tenor
clef sounds most musical, but is still a little peculiar.
P.J.Headford
A music manuscript in Cecil Sharp Library, now Vaughan Williams
Memorial Library, Cecil Sharp House, London
QM222
VMP code WG
Transcribed into ABC Notation for the Village Music Project by
Steve Mansfield 2016
A typical fiddler’s manuscript tune book, 73 musical items,
mostly dance tunes and songs tunes.
Taller and narrower than the William Henry Giles MS
Inside the card cover at the top left corner is a bookseller’s
ticket, which reads “Holloway and Sons, Booksellers and
Stationers, Bampton, Oxon.”
A rubber stamp in red reading “The English Folk Dance Society”
Also a large ornamental library label, different from the one on
the W.H.G. book, reading “Cecil Sharp 189-“ The date is left
incomplete, suggesting it was acquired after the turn of the
century, but when there were still some old stickers to use up, or
when it was still a private library rather than an institution.
On the facing page, in flamboyant ornamental script, it says “This
Book Bellongs(sic) To Me, W+G”
The next page is again ornamental.
In the centre it says “Set for the Violen” and around it are
arranged “Marches, Quicksteps, Song Tunes, etc., Gallopades,
Quadrills, Popler Country Dances, Mellodes, Hornpips, Set of
Waltzes.”
Above the tune Quickstep WG.11 is the inscription “June 2nd ’40 12
o’clock at Night”
The initials of the authors are respectively W.G. and W.H.G
Both manuscripts found their ways into the Cecil Sharp Library,
even though the different library bookplates imply that they
arrived separately.
Both appear to be fiddler’s books, W.G. as it is “set for violen”,
and William Henry because the (later) label says “Bampton
Fiddler”, presumably on the authority of Mrs Kettlewell, the
donor. She lived in the area all her life and was, with her
husband, a long-standing supporter of the EFDSS, and incidentally
Bampton Morris dancing in particular.
The handwriting, though it varies within limits in both MSS, is
similar, likewise the music notation. The drawing of the treble
clefs is consistent throughout both MSS.
There are many tunes common to both MSS.
The outstanding fact that links the two MSS is the inscription to
be found in both MSS above the tune “Quickstep” - of “June 2nd 12
o’clock at night”, years 1840 and 1841.
Thus there can be no doubt that the two MSS are intimately
connected, but are we dealing with one author or two? It looks
like the work of one person, but we don’t know for sure. William
Henry Giles started his MS in 1839 and still had it in 1841; W.G.
contains the date 1840. Why two books in use at the same time if
they both belonged to the same person?
Nevertheless, the MSS are so intertwined that we can regard it as
a single body of information whether there were two owners or one.
We have been unable to find a William Henry Giles in the area in
the 1841, but we think, on the birthplace evidence, that the
William Giles (of Hamlet of Weald, Bampton) is the same as the
licensed victualler of London who styles himself as William Henry
Giles. The other William Giles’s are one of 36 years old in Coate,
some miles away but still in Bampton, and one twenty years of age
at Waterstock, on the other side of Oxford.
Oxfordshire is home to many Giles’s, also Pether and particularly
Shaylor are names relatively common thereabouts.
W.G. is also likely to be William Giles, but the possibility
remains that it could be another surname altogether, perhaps
William Green b1821, of Bampton?
The only certain surname we have is Giles, and the only Giles
family in Bampton, Oxfordshire in the 1841 census (ref. HO
107/872/10 Hamlet of Weald, Bampton)
are recorded as living in West Weald
Ages are approximate in this census. No other detail other than
shown below is given. Place of birth tends to be haphazard in
early census returns.
Thomas Giles, 50, Farmer, Born in Oxfordshire?=N
Mary Giles, 50, Born in Oxfordshire?=N
William, 23, Born in Oxfordshire?=N……………Our man?
Emma, 15, Born in Oxfordshire?=Y
By the 1851 census (ref. HO 107/1731 Bampton) William is no longer
recorded as living in Bampton.
[entry#74] Fisher’s Bridge, Bampton
Thomas Giles/Head/Married/63/Farmer/Wilts, Ashbury
Mary Jane ditto/Wife/Married/64/Wife/Berks, Little Faringdon
(became part of Oxon in 1844)
Jane Emma ditto/Daughter/unMarried/24/-/Oxon, Clanfield
1861 census (ref. RG 9/905) Bampton
[entry#143] Fisher’s Bridge, Bampton
Thomas Giles/Wid/72/Ag.Lab/Berks, Ashbury (NB. Ashbury had been
reallocated from Wilts to Berks by then)
1871 census (ref. RG 10/1451) Bampton
[entry#148] Buckland Road, Bampton
Thomas Giles/Head/Wid/82/Ag.Lab./Berks. Ashbury
Thomas is an agricultural labourer in the 1861 and 1871 censuses,
when he was 73 and 83 years old; William Giles is not referred to
in Bampton any later than the 1841 census so he either died or he
moved elsewhere.
Circumstantially, the 1851 census (ref. HO 107/1554) London,
Southwark, St.George the Martyr
[entry#67] Friar St. General Abercrombie
William Giles/Head/Married/33/Licensed Victualler/Oxfordshire
Mary Giles/Wife/26/Licensed Victualler/Surrey
Emily Gander/Cousin/unM/20/Barmaid/Surrey
John Burden/Nephew/10/Scholar/London
Mary Brennan/Servant/Married/20/House servant/Surrey
William Watts/Servant/ditto/20/ditto/Wilts
1861 census (ref. RG 9/353) London, Lambeth, St. Mary’s Church
113 (now 49) Lambeth Walk, Lambeth, (The French Horn) (rebuilt
1890)
http://www.1790salehouse.com/2013/03/french-horn-lambeth-walk.html
William Giles/Head/Married/43?(illegible)/Victualer/Oxfordshire
Mary ditto/Wife/ditto/36/-/Sussex
William ditto/Son/5/-/Surrey, Newington
Elizabeth ditto/Daughter/4/-/ditto
Mary Goodall/Niece/UnM/23/-/Kent, Gravesend
Michael Brooks/Cousin(?)/UnM/?59(illegible)/-/London
Charles Morris/servant/20/unM/Barman/Greenwich
Daniel Parker/servant/M?/40?/Potman/Surrey, Clapham
1871 census (ref. GG 10/1315) London, Twickenham, St.Mary(?)
3 Abbey Villas Twickenham
William H.Giles/Head/Mar/54/retire victualler/Berks, Shrivenham,
now Oxon
Mary Ann ditto/Wife/46?/-/Sussex, Herstmonseux
William ditto/son/15/scholar/Surrey, Walworth
Elizabeth ditto/daughter/14/scholar/ditto
Sarah Goodall/Niece/unM/24/-/Kent, Gravesend
Rebecca Palmer/servant/unM /14/servant/Chelsea
In the 1841 census he and his mother Mary are both shown as NOT
born in Oxfordshire, but in 1851 his mother is shown as born in
Little Faringdon, Oxfordshire, which had been an enclave of
Berkshire and only became part of Oxfordshire in 1844. Similarly,
in the 1871 Twickenham census William Henry was born in
Shrivenham, Berkshire, which has ping-ponged between that county
and Oxfordshire, most recently becoming part of Oxfordshire again
in the 1974 re-organisation. So he would be similarly shown as
born outside Oxfordshire in 1841, but inside Oxfordshire in 1851
and 1861, and would fit with being our man.
http://pubshistory.com/LondonPubs/SouthwarkStGeorgeMartyr/GeneralAbercrombie.shtml
General Abercrombie, 52 Friar Street was assigned 94 Webber Street
on 14 November 1938 upon street renaming and realignment; it was
renamed the Abbey in the 1990s. ***
A listing of historical London public houses, Taverns, Inns, Beer
Houses and Hotels in Southwark St George Martyr, Surrey,
London. The Southwark St George Martyr, Surrey , London listing
uses information from census, Trade Directories and History to add
licensees, bar staff, Lodgers and Visitors.
The following entries are in this format:
Year/Publican or other Resident/Relationship to Head and or
Occupation/Age/Where Born/Source.
1848/Wm Giles/../../../Post Office Directory ****
1851/Wm Giles/../../../Kellys Directory ****
1851/William Giles/Licensed Victualler/33/Oxfordshire/Census ****
1851/Mary Giles/Wife, Licensed Victualler/26/Surrey/Census
1851/Emmily Gander/Cousin, Barmaid/20/Surrey/Census
1851/John Burdon/Nephew/10/London/Census
1851/Mary Brennan/House Servant/20/Surrey/Census
December1853/William Giles/Outgoing Licensee/../../Era ****
He had married Mary Ann Gandry of Herstmonceux, Sussex, in 1845 at
St Dunstan’s, Stepney.
He died in 1874 aged 57.
It has not been possible to positively establish from the censuses
that the two Williams are definitely one and the same person,
though the case looks very strong. William and Mary Ann’s marriage
certificate may show his father’s name, which might strengthen the
connection.
Taking the two manuscripts together as if they were one item,
there are tunes for church, dancing, singing, light opera, even
morris, so it is clear that they represent several sides of the
musical life of Bampton, though there is a marked absence of
quartets and the like! The tunes were sourced both from printed
media, judging by the inclusion of dynamic marks etc., and also
written down from memory, to judge by the number of mistakes.
There are a total of 155 musical items, of which 36 are repeated
from one MS to the other, leaving 119 different tunes.
It is not always easy to decide whether a tune is functionally a
dance tune or a song tune, as obviously some could be either.
In order of quantity they consist of:-
106 dances (82 different tunes)
14 waltzes (3 repeats)
14 quadrilles (1 repeat)
77 other country dances in various time
signatures (57 different tunes)
21 religious, mostly psalms
18 song (no words)
8 patriotic song (entirely consists of Rule Britannia and God Save
the Queen)
2 instrumental airs
Here they are in pies, after the repeats have been eliminated.
The second pie is a more detailed breakdown of the first
The village is nowadays famous for its Morris dancing. Naturally
there will be interest in whether any of the tunes have a Morris
dance connection.
According to Keith Chandler in
http://www.mustrad.org.uk/articles/bampton.htm the first mention
of the Bampton team is from 1847, in a context that suggests it
was already regarded as traditional. He also says that the first
fiddler to perform with the Bampton side may have been Richard
Ford, ‘about 1851’.
However, according to George Wells a sometime leader of the side
and an exact contemporary of Giles, speaking in 1914 and quoted in
the same article,” ... never had
no trouble to get the dancers but the trouble was sixty, seventy
years ago to get the piper or the fiddler - the musician.
Sometimes they had a very great difficulty in getting one,
they've had one from Buckland, they've had one from Field Town
... and they've had to go out here to Fairford and Broadwell and
out that way to get a piper ..” This could be taken to
mean that it was a longstanding issue and Giles (or W.G.) wasn’t a
musician for the side; alternatively he may have been just that,
but moved away to London and left a vacuum.
Of the 57 different tunes within the country dance category I have
been able to establish that no fewer than 47.5% of them, 27 in
number, (including 70%, or 14, of the 20 repeated tunes) have at
some time had valid Morris connections. Compared with contemporary
manuscripts UK-wide that is a very high percentage, I would
usually expect to see between 5 – 10%. Most of the Morris tunes
represented also qualify as absolutely normal popular dance tunes
of the day; nevertheless there are one or two that are less
straightforward, such as Black Joke, Bobby and Joan, Old Woman and
Princess Royal, that are nowadays principally associated
with Morris.
Bampton-in-the-Bush in the early 19th century suffered along with
all other agricultural districts from the post-Napoleonic War
agricultural depression, but this by the 1830s was coming to an
end. Nevertheless, again in common with other agricultural
districts, in the half century between the censusses of 1831 and
1881 its population declined from 2,750 to 1,395(1),
while that of London increased from 1,730,000 to 4,710,000(2). Thus
it would seem that Giles was being very astute in relocating
himself to the booming metropolis.
Chris Partington
http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10335243/theme/POP
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demography_of_London
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