John Clare and the folk tradition
by George Deacon
Francis Boutle Publishers
ISBN 1 903427 11 8
Paperback 400 pages
Contains nearly 300 tunes
Price per copy including postage: UK £15 Worldwide £18
The book
John Clare was one of the earliest collectors of folk song and music in Southern England, and the numerous songs, descriptions of the folk customs and beliefs of his native Helpston in Northamptonshire, together with the nearly 300 tunes transcribed in this book, give us a unique view into the disappearing pre-industrial culture of the early nineteenth century. George Deacon's classic work – in paperback for the first time – establishes the relationship between the folk culture of Clare’s day and his development as a poet.
The author
George Deacon spent 15 years as a folk singer before beginning research on the John Clare manuscripts – a task that was to take him nearly four years to complete. He has written and performed for radio, television and film, and works as a business consultant specialising in social care issues.
Other books on the folk tradition
Step Change: New views on traditional dance edited by Georgina Boyes
Other books on poetry and literature
The Awakening – Poems Newly Found by Jack Clemo
The Dreamt Sea – an Anthology of Anglo-Cornish Poetry 1928–2004
The Turn of the Ermine – A Bilingual Anthology of Breton Literature
The High Tide – collected poems in Cornish 1974–1999 by Tim Saunders
Inside Merlin's Cave – A Cornish Arthurian reader 1000–2000
Looking at the Mermaid – A Cornish reader 900– 1900
Nothing Broken – Recent Poems in Cornish
Ordinalia – The Cornish Mystery Play Cycle
The Wheel – an anthology of modern poetry in Cornish 1850–1980
Voices from West Barbary – an anthology of Anglo-Cornish poetry 1549–1928
