I've always been fascinated by John Playford's English Dancing Master. As a collector of antiquarian books with a particular interest in folk music and dance, this was one of those books I always wanted to find. I've had saved searches on various antiquarian book and auction websites but nothing has every turned up and I've never seen an actual copy either in the flesh or photograph.
Turns out that despite it's fame and the numerous facsimiles available, including of the 1651 edition, ...
Carte de Visite of a Victorian Village Band, c.1860s with various brass instruments including trombone outside a public house which appears to be The Star Inn, location unknown. Photographer unidentified.
Listening to the 1978 Topic album "Memories of Sligo" by Tommy Healy and Johnny Duffy, and the track "The First Part of the Lancers" specifically, my attention was drawn to the sleevenotes by Reg Hall:
"The first Part of The Lancers, an untitled piece, was readily recalled when Johnny and Tommy were asked to play something old-fashioned and out of the ordinary and it is one of the very few Irish traditional dance tunes that can be pinned down to a non-traditional, composed origin. It ...
This is a list of commonly played session tunes for a starter repertoire. These are all commonly played at the various sessions in Plymouth, primarily The Dolphin (Second Monday), the Fortescue (fourth Tuesday) and the Artillery Arms (Last Monday).
Mill Bay laundry was one of the largest in Plymouth. Sited nearby were the Alkali Soap & Soda Works, providing the cleaning materials, and the Railway, giving the company convenient transport of good to towns & cities throughout the West Country. In about 1780, before the laundry was established, a musket redoubt, or fort, was built here on top of a large hill. By the 1850s the hill and redoubt had been quarried away.
Formally built as a hall for non-conformists in the late 1830s, by the 1870s it was the premises of the famous organ builders Hele & Co. They were to produce stops, pipes and complete organs throughout the city. A notable one was made for St Peter's Church which was later destroyed in WWII. During that period, the hall's basement was the HQ for the local Air Raid Wardens, after which the building also hosted boxing matches and acted as a gym.
Sewers were known to harbour things that were lethal to humans and the environment. In these early days of sanitisation one of these was the problem of the build-up of noxious and explosive gases such as Methane, Carbon Monoxide, etc. To solve the problem sewer lamps were installed or ventilation chimneys were built like this one (c1885) which is still in service and connected to the 'Dead Lake Sewage System'
Now that every last classic album has been rinsed from the charity shop racks, there's nothing left to do but to crank the prices up on a few lesser known modern classics. Who is advising the shops of the value of - or even market for - these records is beyond me.
Here's some absolutely insane record pricing spotted in the charity shops of Plymouth recently.
Fucked 12" copy of B list disco hit: A Fiver
Routinely used as an envelope 'stifferner' when sending more expensive ...
Located in the bell tower of the Fowey Parish Church, the following text accompanies the painting:
"RINGERS PAINTING and RHYME
This painting dates probably from the late 18th C. It is a sort of palimpsest and the underlying work can be seen in places. This earlier work looks to be a similar painting of ringers but turned through 90° and with the bells hanging down and not up on stay as they are on the later painting. It is dated 1732, 9 years after the 2 oldest bells were cast by ...
