About Site

Background and Authors

This site was conceived by a group of Gloucestershire folk song enthusiasts as a place to hear the old songs sung in Gloucestershire, and to encourage people to learn and sing these songs. As part of this we wanted to provide a place to read about our local history of songs, the singers and the towns and villages where they were sung.

The site launched in December 2011 with a limited collection of Christmas songs and examples of Christmas traditions such as Mumming. We hope the site will expand – firstly by feedback from readers about these songs, singers and places, and secondly with more material added from the song sources and from people with ‘Christmas Traditions’ knowledge. Maybe in future Christmases these songs will be sung again in the villages and echo round Gloucestershire? Maybe every village will be Mumming?

The site is brought to you by the team of Carol Davies, Gwilym Davies, Veronica Lowe, Steve Rowley and Hugh Tarran with support from ‘Glosfolk’ (the Gloucestershire Folk Organisation). The idea arose originally as an extension of the Folk Map compiled in 2011.

The Future?

Firstly we’d like to hear these songs being sung in villages and schools. If you have ideas on how we can do that, with you, please get in touch. For example do you need suitable Christmas materials or singers to visit and lead the learning of these songs.

Secondly, as well as Christmas songs and traditions there is a large resource of other songs, tunes, dances and traditions that have been recorded in Gloucestershire. It is hoped this Christmas site may be a model for a larger site that can include all this material.