Sabine Baring-Gould
Encyclopedia
The Reverend Sabine Baring-Gould (icon) (28 January 1834 - 2 January 1924) 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 rebuilt and is now a hotel. He is remembered particularly as a writer of hymn
s, the best-known being "Onward, Christian Soldiers
" and "Now the Day Is Over". He also translated the carol "Gabriel's Message
" from the Basque language
to the English.
. Because the family spent much of his childhood travelling round Europe, most of his education was by private tutors. He only spent about two years in formal schooling, first at King's College School
in London (then located in Somerset House
) and then, for a few months, at Warwick Grammar School
(now Warwick School). Here his time was ended by a bronchial disease of the kind that was to plague him throughout his long life. His father considered his ill-health as a good reason for another European tour.
In 1852 he was admitted to Cambridge University, earning the degrees of Bachelor of Arts
in 1857, then Master of Arts
in 1860 from Clare College, Cambridge
. During 1864, he became the curate
at Horbury
Bridge, West Riding of Yorkshire
. It was while acting as a curate that he met Grace Taylor, the 16-year-old daughter of a mill hand. His vicar arranged for Grace to live for two years with relatives in York
to learn middle class manners. Sabine, meanwhile, relocated to become perpetual curate at Dalton, near Thirsk
. He and Grace were married in 1868 at Wakefield
.
Their marriage lasted until her death 48 years later, and the couple had 15 children, all but one of whom lived to adulthood. When he buried his wife in 1916 he had carved on her tombstone the Latin
motto Dimidium Animae Meae ("Half my Soul").
Baring-Gould became the rector
of East Mersea
in Essex
in 1871 and spent ten years there. In 1880 he inherited the 3,000 acre (12 km²) family estates of Lew Trenchard
in Devon
, which included the gift of the living of Lew Trenchard parish. When the living became vacant during 1881, he was able to appoint himself to it, becoming parson
as well as squire
. He did a great deal of work restoring St. Peter’s Church, Lew Trenchard, and (from 1883–1914) thoroughly remodelled his home Lew Trenchard Manor.
and Cornwall
. His first book of songs, Songs and Ballads of the West (1889–91), was the first folk song collection published for the mass market. The musical editor for this collection was Henry Fleetwood Sheppard, though some of the songs included were noted by Baring-Gould's other collaborator Frederick Bussell.
Baring-Gould and Sheppard produced a second collection named A Garland of Country Songs during 1895. A new edition of Songs of the West was proposed for publication in 1905. Sheppard had died in 1901 and so the collector Cecil Sharp
was invited to undertake the musical editorship for the new edition. Sharp and Baring-Gould also collaborated on English Folk Songs for Schools during 1907. This collection of 53 songs was widely used in British schools for the next 60 years.
Although he had to modify the words of some songs which were too rude for the time, he left his original manuscripts for future students of folk song, thereby preserving many beautiful pieces of music and their lyrics which otherwise might have been lost.
The folk-song manuscripts from Baring-Gould's personal library and from public libraries have been published as a microfiche edition available for study in the main Devon Libraries and other places (including the Vaughan Williams Memorial Library
in London). Thirty boxes of unpublished manuscript material on other topics (the Killerton manuscripts) are kept in the Devon Record Office in Exeter. The folksong manuscripts, including the notebooks used for gathering information in the field, were given by Baring-Gould to Plymouth Public Library in 1914 and deposited with the Plymouth and West Devon Record Office in 2006. The complete collection of folk song manuscripts (including two notebooks not included in the microfiches edition) has been digitized and will be published online during 2011 by the Devon Tradition Project in association with the English Folk Dance and Song Society.
Cecil Sharp
dedicated his English Folk Song—Some Conclusions to Baring-Gould.
, and the biography of the eccentric poet-vicar of Morwenstow
, Robert Stephen Hawker
. His folkloric studies resulted in The Book of Were-Wolves (1865), one of the most frequently cited studies of lycanthropy
. He habitually wrote while standing, and his desk can be seen in the manor.
One of his most enduringly popular works was Curious Myths of the Middle Ages , first published in two parts during 1866 and 1868, and republished in many other editions since then. "Each of the book's twenty-four chapters deals with a particular medieval superstition and its variants and antecedents," writes critic Steven J. Mariconda. H. P. Lovecraft
termed it "that curious body of medieval lore which the late Mr. Baring-Gould so effectively assembled in book form."
He wrote much about the Westcountry: his works of this topic include:
Baring-Gould served as President of the Royal Institution of Cornwall
for ten years from 1897.
during 1893. This resulted in the formation of the Committee of the Devonshire Association for the exploration of Dartmoor. The Committee co-opted Mr. R. N. Worth, Mr. R. Hansford Worth, Rev. W. A. G. Gray, and Dr. Prowse. Baring-Gould was the Secretary and author of the first ten annual reports until 1905. The Dartmoor Exploration Committee performed many archaeological digs of prehistoric settlements on Dartmoor and systematically recorded and in some cases restored prehistoric sites. The current state of many prehistoric stone rows and stone circles on Dartmoor owes much to the work of Sabine Baring-Gould and Robert Burnard and the Dartmoor Exploration Committee. Baring-Gould was President of the Devonshire Association for the year 1896.
He wrote much about Dartmoor
: his works of this topic include:
His wife Grace died in April 1916, and he did not remarry.
Baring-Gould died on 2 January 1924 at his home at Lew Trenchard and was buried next to his wife, Grace.
He wrote two volumes of Reminiscences: Early Reminiscences, 1834-1864 and Further Reminiscences, 1864-1894.
One grandson, William Stuart Baring-Gould
, was a noted Sherlock Holmes
scholar who wrote a fictional biography of the great detective—in which, to make up for the lack of information about Holmes's early life, he based his account on the childhood of Sabine Baring-Gould. Sabine himself is a major character of Laurie R. King
's Sherlock Holmes novel The Moor
, a Sherlockian pastiche. In this novel it is revealed that Sabine Baring-Gould is the godfather of Sherlock Holmes.
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
hagiographer, antiquarian
Antiquarian
An antiquarian or antiquary is an aficionado or student of antiquities or things of the past. More specifically, the term is used for those who study history with particular attention to ancient objects of art or science, archaeological and historic sites, or historic archives and manuscripts...
, novelist and eclectic scholar. His bibliography consists of more than 1240 publications, though this list continues to grow. His family home, Lew Trenchard
Lew Trenchard
Lew Trenchard is a parish and village in west Devon, England. Most of the larger village of Lewdown is in the parish. In Domesday Book a manor of Lew is recorded in this area and two rivers have the same name: see River Lew. Trenchard comes from the lords of the manor in the 13th century...
Manor near Okehampton
Okehampton
Okehampton is a town and civil parish in West Devon in the English county of Devon. It is situated at the northern edge of Dartmoor, and has an estimated population of 7,155.-History:...
, Devon
Devon
Devon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...
, has been preserved as he had it rebuilt and is now a hotel. He is remembered particularly as a writer of hymn
Hymn
A hymn is a type of song, usually religious, specifically written for the purpose of praise, adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification...
s, the best-known being "Onward, Christian Soldiers
Onward, Christian Soldiers
"Onward, Christian Soldiers" is a 19th century English hymn. The words were written by Sabine Baring-Gould in 1865, and the music was composed by Arthur Sullivan in 1871. Sullivan named the tune "St. Gertrude," after the wife of his friend Ernest Clay Ker Seymer, at whose country home he composed...
" and "Now the Day Is Over". He also translated the carol "Gabriel's Message
Gabriel's Message
"Gabriel's Message" or "The angel Gabriel from heaven came" is a Basque Christmas folk carol about the Annunciation to the Virgin Mary by the archangel Gabriel that she would become the mother of Jesus Christ the Son of God...
" from the Basque language
Basque language
Basque is the ancestral language of the Basque people, who inhabit the Basque Country, a region spanning an area in northeastern Spain and southwestern France. It is spoken by 25.7% of Basques in all territories...
to the English.
Biography
Sabine Baring-Gould was born in the parish of St Sidwell, Exeter on 28 January 1834 - the eldest son of Edward Baring-Gould and his first wife Sophia Charlotte née Bond. He was named for an uncle, the Arctic explorer Sir Edward SabineEdward Sabine
General Sir Edward Sabine KCB FRS was an Irish astronomer, geophysicist, ornithologist and explorer.Two branches of Sabine's work in particular deserve very high credit: Determination of the length of the seconds pendulum, a simple pendulum whose time period on the surface of the Earth is two...
. Because the family spent much of his childhood travelling round Europe, most of his education was by private tutors. He only spent about two years in formal schooling, first at King's College School
King's College School
King's College School, commonly referred to as KCS, King's, or KCS Wimbledon, is an independent school for day pupils in Wimbledon in south-west London. The school was founded as the junior department of King's College London and occupied part of its premises in Strand, before relocating to...
in London (then located in Somerset House
Somerset House
Somerset House is a large building situated on the south side of the Strand in central London, England, overlooking the River Thames, just east of Waterloo Bridge. The central block of the Neoclassical building, the outstanding project of the architect Sir William Chambers, dates from 1776–96. It...
) and then, for a few months, at Warwick Grammar School
Warwick School
Warwick School is an independent school with boarding facilities for boys in Warwick, England, and is reputed to be the third-oldest surviving school in the country after King's School, Canterbury and St Peter's School, York; and the oldest boy's school in England...
(now Warwick School). Here his time was ended by a bronchial disease of the kind that was to plague him throughout his long life. His father considered his ill-health as a good reason for another European tour.
In 1852 he was admitted to Cambridge University, earning the degrees of Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
in 1857, then Master of Arts
Master of Arts (postgraduate)
A Master of Arts from the Latin Magister Artium, is a type of Master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The M.A. is usually contrasted with the M.S. or M.Sc. degrees...
in 1860 from Clare College, Cambridge
Clare College, Cambridge
Clare College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England.The college was founded in 1326, making it the second-oldest surviving college of the University after Peterhouse. Clare is famous for its chapel choir and for its gardens on "the Backs"...
. During 1864, he became the curate
Curate
A curate is a person who is invested with the care or cure of souls of a parish. In this sense "curate" correctly means a parish priest but in English-speaking countries a curate is an assistant to the parish priest...
at Horbury
Horbury
-Demography:In 2008 Horbury had a largely white population compared with Yorkshire and the Humber.-Population change:The population of Horbury in 2001 was 10,002-Transport:...
Bridge, West Riding of Yorkshire
West Riding of Yorkshire
The West Riding of Yorkshire is one of the three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the administrative county, County of York, West Riding , was based closely on the historic boundaries...
. It was while acting as a curate that he met Grace Taylor, the 16-year-old daughter of a mill hand. His vicar arranged for Grace to live for two years with relatives in York
York
York is a walled city, situated at the confluence of the Rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. The city has a rich heritage and has provided the backdrop to major political events throughout much of its two millennia of existence...
to learn middle class manners. Sabine, meanwhile, relocated to become perpetual curate at Dalton, near Thirsk
Thirsk
Thirsk is a small market town and civil parish in the Hambleton district of North Yorkshire, England. The local travel links are located a mile from the town centre to Thirsk railway station and to Durham Tees Valley Airport...
. He and Grace were married in 1868 at Wakefield
Wakefield
Wakefield is the main settlement and administrative centre of the City of Wakefield, a metropolitan district of West Yorkshire, England. Located by the River Calder on the eastern edge of the Pennines, the urban area is and had a population of 76,886 in 2001....
.
Their marriage lasted until her death 48 years later, and the couple had 15 children, all but one of whom lived to adulthood. When he buried his wife in 1916 he had carved on her tombstone the Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
motto Dimidium Animae Meae ("Half my Soul").
Baring-Gould became the rector
Rector
The word rector has a number of different meanings; it is widely used to refer to an academic, religious or political administrator...
of East Mersea
East Mersea
East Mersea is a scattered village and civil parish on Mersea Island in the English county of Essex.-Grave of Sarah Wrench:The grave of Sarah Wrench , by the North wall of the chancel at St...
in Essex
Essex
Essex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...
in 1871 and spent ten years there. In 1880 he inherited the 3,000 acre (12 km²) family estates of Lew Trenchard
Lew Trenchard
Lew Trenchard is a parish and village in west Devon, England. Most of the larger village of Lewdown is in the parish. In Domesday Book a manor of Lew is recorded in this area and two rivers have the same name: see River Lew. Trenchard comes from the lords of the manor in the 13th century...
in Devon
Devon
Devon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...
, which included the gift of the living of Lew Trenchard parish. When the living became vacant during 1881, he was able to appoint himself to it, becoming parson
Parson
In the pre-Reformation church, a parson was the priest of an independent parish church, that is, a parish church not under the control of a larger ecclesiastical or monastic organization...
as well as squire
Squire
The English word squire is a shortened version of the word Esquire, from the Old French , itself derived from the Late Latin , in medieval or Old English a scutifer. The Classical Latin equivalent was , "arms bearer"...
. He did a great deal of work restoring St. Peter’s Church, Lew Trenchard, and (from 1883–1914) thoroughly remodelled his home Lew Trenchard Manor.
Folk songs
He regarded as his principal achievement the collection of folk songs that he made with the help of the ordinary people of DevonDevon
Devon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...
and Cornwall
Cornwall
Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...
. His first book of songs, Songs and Ballads of the West (1889–91), was the first folk song collection published for the mass market. The musical editor for this collection was Henry Fleetwood Sheppard, though some of the songs included were noted by Baring-Gould's other collaborator Frederick Bussell.
Baring-Gould and Sheppard produced a second collection named A Garland of Country Songs during 1895. A new edition of Songs of the West was proposed for publication in 1905. Sheppard had died in 1901 and so the collector 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...
was invited to undertake the musical editorship for the new edition. Sharp and Baring-Gould also collaborated on English Folk Songs for Schools during 1907. This collection of 53 songs was widely used in British schools for the next 60 years.
Although he had to modify the words of some songs which were too rude for the time, he left his original manuscripts for future students of folk song, thereby preserving many beautiful pieces of music and their lyrics which otherwise might have been lost.
The folk-song manuscripts from Baring-Gould's personal library and from public libraries have been published as a microfiche edition available for study in the main Devon Libraries and other places (including the Vaughan Williams Memorial Library
Vaughan Williams Memorial Library
The Vaughan Williams Memorial Library is the library and archive of the English Folk Dance and Song Society , located in the society's London headquarters, Cecil Sharp House...
in London). Thirty boxes of unpublished manuscript material on other topics (the Killerton manuscripts) are kept in the Devon Record Office in Exeter. The folksong manuscripts, including the notebooks used for gathering information in the field, were given by Baring-Gould to Plymouth Public Library in 1914 and deposited with the Plymouth and West Devon Record Office in 2006. The complete collection of folk song manuscripts (including two notebooks not included in the microfiches edition) has been digitized and will be published online during 2011 by the Devon Tradition Project in association with the English Folk Dance and Song Society.
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...
dedicated his English Folk Song—Some Conclusions to Baring-Gould.
Literature
Baring-Gould wrote many novels (including Mehalah) and Guavas, the Tinner (1897), a collection of ghost stories, a 16-volume The Lives of the SaintsThe Lives of the Saints (Baring-Gould)
The Lives of the Saints is a sixteen-volume collection of lives of the saints by Sabine Baring-Gould, first published between 1872 and 1877 by John Hodges, of London, and later republished in Edinburgh in 1914....
, and the biography of the eccentric poet-vicar of Morwenstow
Morwenstow
thumb|Parish Church of St Morwenna and St John the Baptist, MorwenstowMorwenstow is a civil parish and hamlet in north Cornwall, United Kingdom. The hamlet is situated near the coast approximately six miles north of Bude....
, Robert Stephen Hawker
Robert Stephen Hawker
Robert Stephen Hawker was an Anglican priest, poet, antiquarian of Cornwall and reputed eccentric. He is best known as the writer of The Song of the Western Men with its chorus line of And shall Trelawny die? / Here's twenty thousand Cornish men / will know the reason why!, which he published...
. His folkloric studies resulted in The Book of Were-Wolves (1865), one of the most frequently cited studies of lycanthropy
Lycanthropy
Lycanthropy is the professed ability or power of a human being to undergo transformation into a werewolf, or to gain wolf-like characteristics. The term comes from Greek Lykànthropos : λύκος, lykos + άνθρωπος, ànthrōpos...
. He habitually wrote while standing, and his desk can be seen in the manor.
One of his most enduringly popular works was Curious Myths of the Middle Ages , first published in two parts during 1866 and 1868, and republished in many other editions since then. "Each of the book's twenty-four chapters deals with a particular medieval superstition and its variants and antecedents," writes critic Steven J. Mariconda. H. P. Lovecraft
H. P. Lovecraft
Howard Phillips Lovecraft --often credited as H.P. Lovecraft — was an American author of horror, fantasy and science fiction, especially the subgenre known as weird fiction....
termed it "that curious body of medieval lore which the late Mr. Baring-Gould so effectively assembled in book form."
He wrote much about the Westcountry: his works of this topic include:
- A Book of the West. 2 vols. I: Devon; II: Cornwall. London : Methuen, 1899
- Cornish Characters and Strange Events. London: John Lane, 1909 (reissued in 1925 in 2 vols., First series and Second series
- Devonshire Characters and Strange Events.
Baring-Gould served as President of the Royal Institution of Cornwall
Royal Institution of Cornwall
The Royal Institution of Cornwall was founded in Truro, Cornwall, United Kingdom, in 1818 as the Cornwall Literary and Philosophical Institution. The Institution was one of the earliest of seven similar societies established in England and Wales. The RIC moved to its present site in River Street...
for ten years from 1897.
Dartmoor
Baring-Gould along with his friend Robert Burnard organised the first scientific archaeological excavations of hut-circles on Dartmoor at GrimspoundGrimspound
Grimspound is a late Bronze Age settlement, situated on Dartmoor in Devon, England. It consists of a set of 24 hut circles surrounded by a low stone wall...
during 1893. This resulted in the formation of the Committee of the Devonshire Association for the exploration of Dartmoor. The Committee co-opted Mr. R. N. Worth, Mr. R. Hansford Worth, Rev. W. A. G. Gray, and Dr. Prowse. Baring-Gould was the Secretary and author of the first ten annual reports until 1905. The Dartmoor Exploration Committee performed many archaeological digs of prehistoric settlements on Dartmoor and systematically recorded and in some cases restored prehistoric sites. The current state of many prehistoric stone rows and stone circles on Dartmoor owes much to the work of Sabine Baring-Gould and Robert Burnard and the Dartmoor Exploration Committee. Baring-Gould was President of the Devonshire Association for the year 1896.
He wrote much about Dartmoor
Dartmoor
Dartmoor is an area of moorland in south Devon, England. Protected by National Park status, it covers .The granite upland dates from the Carboniferous period of geological history. The moorland is capped with many exposed granite hilltops known as tors, providing habitats for Dartmoor wildlife. The...
: his works of this topic include:
- Dartmoor idylls (1896).
- A Book of Dartmoor (1906). London : Methuen, 1900. Republished Halsgrove, 2002
Family
He married Grace Taylor on 25 May 1868 at Horbury. They had 15 children: Mary (b. 1869), Margaret Daisy (b. 1870, an artist who painted part of the screen in Lew Trenchard Church), Edward Sabine (b. 1871), Beatrice Gracieuse (b. 1874, d. 1876, aged 2 years), Veronica (b. 1875), Julian (b. 1877), William Drake (b. 1878), Barbara (b. 1880), Diana Amelia (b. 1881), Felicitas (bpt 1883), Henry (b. 1885), Joan (b. 1887), Cecily Sophia (b. 1889), John Hillary (b. 1890), and Grace (b. 1891).His wife Grace died in April 1916, and he did not remarry.
Baring-Gould died on 2 January 1924 at his home at Lew Trenchard and was buried next to his wife, Grace.
He wrote two volumes of Reminiscences: Early Reminiscences, 1834-1864 and Further Reminiscences, 1864-1894.
One grandson, William Stuart Baring-Gould
William S. Baring-Gould
William Stuart Baring-Gould was a noted Sherlock Holmes scholar, best known as the author of the influential 1962 fictional biography, Sherlock Holmes of Baker Street: A life of the world's first consulting detective.-Biography:...
, was a noted Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes is a fictional detective created by Scottish author and physician Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The fantastic London-based "consulting detective", Holmes is famous for his astute logical reasoning, his ability to take almost any disguise, and his use of forensic science skills to solve...
scholar who wrote a fictional biography of the great detective—in which, to make up for the lack of information about Holmes's early life, he based his account on the childhood of Sabine Baring-Gould. Sabine himself is a major character of Laurie R. King
Laurie R. King
Laurie R. King is an American author best known for her detective fiction. Among her books are the Mary Russell series of historical mysteries, featuring Sherlock Holmes as her mentor and later partner, and a series featuring Kate Martinelli, a fictional lesbian San Francisco, California, police...
's Sherlock Holmes novel The Moor
The Moor (novel)
The Moor is the fourth book in Mary Russell series by Laurie R. King.Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes investigate strange goings-on on Dartmoor. Reprising the setting and some of the plotlines of The Hound of the Baskervilles, Holmes and Russell come to the aid of the Reverend Sabine Baring-Gould....
, a Sherlockian pastiche. In this novel it is revealed that Sabine Baring-Gould is the godfather of Sherlock Holmes.
Selected bibliography
- The Book of Were-Wolves, being an account of a terrible superstition (1865)
- Curious myths of the Middle ages (1866)
- The Lives of the Saints - a sixteen-volume collection (1872 and 1877)
- Red spider (1887)
- Grettir the outlaw: a story of Iceland (1890)
- Dartmoor idylls (1896)
- Songs of the West: folksongs of Devon & Cornwall (1905)
- A Book of Dartmoor (1906)
- Devon (1907)
External links
- Biography and hymns of Sabine Baring-Gould at Hymnary.org
- 'Songs of the West' - Sabine Baring-Gould and the Folk Songs of South-West England
- Curious Myths of the Middle Ages, by Sabine Baring-Gould
- Sabine Baring-Gould Appreciation Society
- Devon Tradition Project
- Biography from Devon Discovering Devon by the BBC