Talks
Mary is available to do illustrated presentations on several Cambridgeshire song-related topics. Using a lap-top, screen and projector Mary has many old photographs of Cambridgeshire villages to illustrate where songs were being sung a century ago, and photos of the manuscripts that captured the songs. Mary ( often accompanied by her partner Anahata) will sing the songs and tell you about who used to sing the songs and who wrote them down for us to sing today.Three collectors stand out as being very prolific: Cecil Sharp, Ralph Vaughan Williams - both of whom studied at Cambridge colleges- and Ella Bull of Cottenham. Ella was blind from birth but rescued many unique songs which would have been forgotten if it had not been for her enthusiasm and persistence.
Examples of each collector's work:
Phone 01638 720444