Lucy Broadwood
Encyclopedia
Lucy Etheldred Broadwood (9 August 1858 – 22 August 1929) was principally an English folksong collector and researcher during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. As one of the founder members of the Folk-Song Society and Editor of the Folk Song Journal, she was one of the main influences of the English folk revival of that period. She was an accomplished singer, composer, piano accompanist, and amateur poet. She was much sought after as a song and choral singing adjudicator at music festivals throughout England, and was also one of the founders of the Leith Hill Music Festival in Surrey.
in Scotland, the daughter of the piano manufacturer Henry Fowler Broadwood (1811–1893) (eldest son of James Shudi Broadwood
) and his wife Juliana Maria, and great granddaughter of John Broadwood
, the founder of Broadwood and Sons, piano manufacturers. She was the youngest of eleven children (two boys and nine girls). Henry's mother was of Scottish descent and from her he had learnt the ballad "The wee little croodin' doo", which he would sing to the young Lucy. She recalled later: "The first musical impression that I ever remember came from this song, sung by my father as I sat astride his knee when little more than two years old and in our Tweedale home."
For a number of years the family maintained a home in London, where the Broadwood piano manufacturing factory was situated. In 1864, however, following the death of Lucy's uncle the Rev. John Broadwood (1798–1864) the family moved to Lyne House, in the parish of Capel in Surrey, just across the county border from the Sussex village of Rusper
.
Lucy was inspired by his example when she learnt of it around 1870 (several years after his death). This did not lead immediately to emulation; but in 1890 a revised edition of the collection was published by Leonard and Co, with new arrangements by Herbert F. Birch Reynardson, Lucy's cousin, under the title of Sussex Songs. It was produced with her assistance, and also contained an additional sixteen songs that she was recorded as having collected. (It now appears that at least one of these was collected by her father, Henry Fowler Broadwood.) The publication sold for 2/6d. It is notable that, although Lucy had worked on it, her name is not credited in its contents.
works, and was a member of the Purcell Society
. Through this association she was to become acquainted with, and was also distantly related, by the marriage of one of her cousins, to J.A. Fuller Maitland
(1856–1936), a music critic and musician. Her friendship and collaboration with him was to last for the rest of her life. As a result of her work on Sussex Songs she was invited to collaborate with him on preparation of what was to become one of a number of influential folksong publications in the late 1880s/early 1890s. This was English County Songs, and this time Lucy was fully credited as joint editor of the work. The song arrangements were provided by both herself and Fuller Maitland. The book was published to much acclaim in the summer of 1893, and is a milestone in English folksong studies. In the words of Ralph Vaughan Williams
: "This may be said to be the starting point of the modern folk song movement". Shortly after the book's publication, her father died and she and her mother moved to a flat in London in 1894. Following her mother's death Lucy was to continue to live in a succession of London flats until her death in 1929.
Her other principal publication was English Traditional Carols and Songs which was published in 1908. On this occasion all of the song arrangements were her own, and all of the songs had been collected by her. (In the previous publication, English County Songs the majority of songs were actually gleaned from earlier publications, or had been submitted to the editors by other collectors). An important source was the Horsham
shoemaker Henry Burstow
, from whom she had collected many songs, first on 2 May 1892.
, and her diary records that she held a meeting with Cecil Sharp
and Ralph Vaughan Williams to plan for the resurrection of the Society and "fan its dying embers". Their work was evidently successful as the Society was to continue in existence until it's amalagamation with the English Folk Dance Society in 1932, which gave rise to the English Folk Dance and Song Society
, which exists to this day. Lucy also took on the mantle of Editor of the Folk Song Journal at this time. Although her Secretaryship of the Society was to last for only a short while, she retained her post as Editor of the Journal (with the exception of a very short period of relinquishment) until her resignation from the work in 1926. Her work as Editor, and her research scholarship were recognised internationally, and, in his subsequent obituary of her, Vaughan Williams (amongst others) noted that it was principally her work which had ensured the existence and revival of the Society.
During her song collecting career Lucy was to collect songs from many areas - for example, from her home area of Surrey/Sussex; from Hertfordshire (where members of her family lived); from Arisaig
in summer 1906 and again in summer 1907, when, inspired by Percy Grainger
, she used a phonograph to collect Gaelic songs; from Peebles
in 1907; from Lincolnshire (where she collected jointly with Grainger in 1906); and from Devon (where she undertook a collecting trip with Sabine Baring-Gould
in 1893).
In 1929 she was elected President of the Society, but was only to hold this position for less than 12 months, as she died unexpectedly and suddenly on 22 August 1929 at the age of 71 in Dropmore, Kent, where she was visiting relatives in order to attend an arts festival in Canterbury.
She was buried in the churchyard at Rusper, and the family commissioned an alabaster plaque from Thomas Clapperton, which is situated on the wall just inside the entrance door of the church. On 1 May each year, the Broadwood Morris men, named after her, dance inside the church, and hang a wreath on the plaque in her honour.
Folksong arrangement by Broadwood at the Mutopia project
http://www.mutopiaproject.org/cgibin/make-table.cgi?searchingfor=oats+and+beans
Listen to Gaelic recordings made by Lucy Broadwood and Farquhar MacRae http://sounds.bl.uk/Browse.aspx?category=World-and-traditional-music&collection=Ethnographic-wax-cylinders&browseby=Browse+by+country&choice=S-Z (click on 'Scotland' for a list)
Early life and family
She was born at 2am on 9 August 1858, at the Pavilion, the summer residence that her father rented at MelroseMelrose, Scotland
Melrose is a small town and civil parish in the Scottish Borders, historically in Roxburghshire. It is in the Eildon committee area.-Etymology:...
in Scotland, the daughter of the piano manufacturer Henry Fowler Broadwood (1811–1893) (eldest son of James Shudi Broadwood
James Shudi Broadwood
James Shudi Broadwood was a piano maker in Middlesex and a magistrate in Surrey.-Piano making:He was born in London and died in Lyne Drive, Surrey. He was the second child and eldest son of John Broadwood and his first wife Barbara Shudi. James originally worked as a clerk for his father from 1785...
) and his wife Juliana Maria, and great granddaughter of John Broadwood
John Broadwood
John Broadwood was the Scottish founder of the piano manufacturer Broadwood and Sons.-Life:Broadwood was born 6 October 1732 and christened 15 Oct 1732 at St Helens, Cockburnspath in Berwickshire, and grew up in Oldhamstocks, East Lothian...
, the founder of Broadwood and Sons, piano manufacturers. She was the youngest of eleven children (two boys and nine girls). Henry's mother was of Scottish descent and from her he had learnt the ballad "The wee little croodin' doo", which he would sing to the young Lucy. She recalled later: "The first musical impression that I ever remember came from this song, sung by my father as I sat astride his knee when little more than two years old and in our Tweedale home."
For a number of years the family maintained a home in London, where the Broadwood piano manufacturing factory was situated. In 1864, however, following the death of Lucy's uncle the Rev. John Broadwood (1798–1864) the family moved to Lyne House, in the parish of Capel in Surrey, just across the county border from the Sussex village of Rusper
Rusper
Rusper is a village and civil parish in the Horsham District of West Sussex, England. It lies north of the town of Horsham and west of Crawley. Rusper is the centre of Rusper Parish which covers most of the northern area between Horsham and Crawley. Rusper is governed by the Horsham District...
.
Sussex Songs
John Broadwood had been responsible in 1847 for self-publishing what is now recognised as the first true collection of English folk songs (comprising both words and music as collected from "rustics" in Surrey and Sussex). Other works had appeared before, but none married actual words and music as collected together. The work, which is more commonly known today by the shortened title Old English Songs, comprised a small number of songs which Broadwood had personally collected and noted down, and which were provided with arrangements by W.A. Dusart, an organist from Worthing, a few years before publication.Lucy was inspired by his example when she learnt of it around 1870 (several years after his death). This did not lead immediately to emulation; but in 1890 a revised edition of the collection was published by Leonard and Co, with new arrangements by Herbert F. Birch Reynardson, Lucy's cousin, under the title of Sussex Songs. It was produced with her assistance, and also contained an additional sixteen songs that she was recorded as having collected. (It now appears that at least one of these was collected by her father, Henry Fowler Broadwood.) The publication sold for 2/6d. It is notable that, although Lucy had worked on it, her name is not credited in its contents.
English County Songs and English Traditional Carols and Songs
Lucy was also heavily involved in the early music movement, and in editing PurcellHenry Purcell
Henry Purcell – 21 November 1695), was an English organist and Baroque composer of secular and sacred music. Although Purcell incorporated Italian and French stylistic elements into his compositions, his legacy was a uniquely English form of Baroque music...
works, and was a member of the Purcell Society
Purcell Society
The Purcell Society, founded in 1876 is an organization dedicated to making the complete musical works of Henry Purcell available. Between 1876 and 1965, scores of all the known works of Purcell were published, in 32 volumes...
. Through this association she was to become acquainted with, and was also distantly related, by the marriage of one of her cousins, to J.A. Fuller Maitland
John Alexander Fuller Maitland
John Alexander Fuller Maitland was an influential British music critic and scholar from the 1880s to the 1920s. He encouraged the rediscovery of English music of the 16th and 17th centuries, particularly Henry Purcell's music and English virginal music...
(1856–1936), a music critic and musician. Her friendship and collaboration with him was to last for the rest of her life. As a result of her work on Sussex Songs she was invited to collaborate with him on preparation of what was to become one of a number of influential folksong publications in the late 1880s/early 1890s. This was English County Songs, and this time Lucy was fully credited as joint editor of the work. The song arrangements were provided by both herself and Fuller Maitland. The book was published to much acclaim in the summer of 1893, and is a milestone in English folksong studies. In the words of Ralph Vaughan Williams
Ralph Vaughan Williams
Ralph Vaughan Williams OM was an English composer of symphonies, chamber music, opera, choral music, and film scores. He was also a collector of English folk music and song: this activity both influenced his editorial approach to the English Hymnal, beginning in 1904, in which he included many...
: "This may be said to be the starting point of the modern folk song movement". Shortly after the book's publication, her father died and she and her mother moved to a flat in London in 1894. Following her mother's death Lucy was to continue to live in a succession of London flats until her death in 1929.
Her other principal publication was English Traditional Carols and Songs which was published in 1908. On this occasion all of the song arrangements were her own, and all of the songs had been collected by her. (In the previous publication, English County Songs the majority of songs were actually gleaned from earlier publications, or had been submitted to the editors by other collectors). An important source was the Horsham
Horsham
Horsham is a market town with a population of 55,657 on the upper reaches of the River Arun in the centre of the Weald, West Sussex, in the historic County of Sussex, England. The town is south south-west of London, north-west of Brighton and north-east of the county town of Chichester...
shoemaker Henry Burstow
Henry Burstow
Henry Burstow was a shoemaker and bellringer from Horsham, Sussex, best known for his vast repertoire of songs, many of which were collected in the folksong revival of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries...
, from whom she had collected many songs, first on 2 May 1892.
Folk-Song Society
As a result of the success of a number of folksong publications (including English County Songs) in the late 1880s/early 1890s, moves were made to found the Folk-Song Society, and at its inaugural meeting in 1898, Lucy was elected to the committee, together with Fuller Maitland. In 1904 she was to become the Honorary Secretary, following the illness and subsequent death of her predecessor in the post, Kate LeeKate Lee
Kate Lee, born Catharine Anna Spooner, was a singer and folksong collector.She was born in Rufford, Nottinghamshire, the daughter of Lucius and Margaret Spooner; her cousins included William Archibald Spooner, who gave his name to the "spoonerism".She entered the Royal Academy of Music in January...
, and her diary records that she held a meeting with Cecil Sharp
Cecil Sharp
Cecil James Sharp was the founding father of the folklore revival in England in the early 20th century, and many of England's traditional dances and music owe their continuing existence to his work in recording and publishing them.-Early life:Sharp was born in Camberwell, London, the eldest son of...
and Ralph Vaughan Williams to plan for the resurrection of the Society and "fan its dying embers". Their work was evidently successful as the Society was to continue in existence until it's amalagamation with the English Folk Dance Society in 1932, which gave rise to the English Folk Dance and Song Society
English Folk Dance and Song Society
The English Folk Dance and Song Society was formed in 1932 when two organisations merged: the Folk-Song Society and the English Folk Dance Society. The EFDSS, a member-based organisation, was incorporated as a Company limited by guarantee in 1935 and became a Registered Charity The English Folk...
, which exists to this day. Lucy also took on the mantle of Editor of the Folk Song Journal at this time. Although her Secretaryship of the Society was to last for only a short while, she retained her post as Editor of the Journal (with the exception of a very short period of relinquishment) until her resignation from the work in 1926. Her work as Editor, and her research scholarship were recognised internationally, and, in his subsequent obituary of her, Vaughan Williams (amongst others) noted that it was principally her work which had ensured the existence and revival of the Society.
During her song collecting career Lucy was to collect songs from many areas - for example, from her home area of Surrey/Sussex; from Hertfordshire (where members of her family lived); from Arisaig
Arisaig
Arisaig is a village in Lochaber, Invernessshire, on the west coast of the Scottish Highlands.-History:On 20 September 1746 Bonnie Prince Charlie left Scotland for France from a place near the village following the failure of the Jacobite Rising. The site of his departure is marked by the Prince's...
in summer 1906 and again in summer 1907, when, inspired by Percy Grainger
Percy Grainger
George Percy Aldridge Grainger , known as Percy Grainger, was an Australian-born composer, arranger and pianist. In the course of a long and innovative career he played a prominent role in the revival of interest in British folk music in the early years of the 20th century. He also made many...
, she used a phonograph to collect Gaelic songs; from Peebles
Peebles
Peebles is a burgh in the committee area of Tweeddale, in the Scottish Borders, lying on the River Tweed. According to the 2001 Census, the population was 8,159.-History:...
in 1907; from Lincolnshire (where she collected jointly with Grainger in 1906); and from Devon (where she undertook a collecting trip with Sabine Baring-Gould
Sabine Baring-Gould
The Reverend Sabine Baring-Gould was an English hagiographer, antiquarian, novelist and eclectic scholar. His bibliography consists of more than 1240 publications, though this list continues to grow. His family home, Lew Trenchard Manor near Okehampton, Devon, has been preserved as he had it...
in 1893).
In 1929 she was elected President of the Society, but was only to hold this position for less than 12 months, as she died unexpectedly and suddenly on 22 August 1929 at the age of 71 in Dropmore, Kent, where she was visiting relatives in order to attend an arts festival in Canterbury.
She was buried in the churchyard at Rusper, and the family commissioned an alabaster plaque from Thomas Clapperton, which is situated on the wall just inside the entrance door of the church. On 1 May each year, the Broadwood Morris men, named after her, dance inside the church, and hang a wreath on the plaque in her honour.
Other activities
In addition to her work as a folksong collector and researcher, Lucy was also a performer who gave many recitals from the concert platform of both classical works, and folksongs; an accomplished accompanist, working with both professional singers and amateurs;and a composer in her own right, having had a number of works published in her early 20s, as well as acting as an editor for works by Purcell, and as translator of works by Bach. She was also a poet (although perhaps not a particularly notable one).External links
Folksong arrangement by Broadwood at the Mutopia project
Mutopia project
The Mutopia Project is a volunteer-run effort to create a library of free content sheet music, in a way similar to Project Gutenberg's library of public domain books.The music is reproduced from old scores that are out of copyright...
http://www.mutopiaproject.org/cgibin/make-table.cgi?searchingfor=oats+and+beans
Listen to Gaelic recordings made by Lucy Broadwood and Farquhar MacRae http://sounds.bl.uk/Browse.aspx?category=World-and-traditional-music&collection=Ethnographic-wax-cylinders&browseby=Browse+by+country&choice=S-Z (click on 'Scotland' for a list)