Anne Gilchrist (collector) explained

Anne Geddes Gilchrist
Honorific Suffix:O.B.E., F.S.A
Birth Date:8 December 1863
Birth Place:Manchester, England
Death Date:24 July 1954
Occupation:Folk song collector

Anne Geddes Gilchrist OBE FSA[1] (8 December 1863  - 24 July 1954)[2] [3] was a British folk song collector.[4] [5] Although less well-known than her London-based counterparts, her expertise was acknowledged by Cecil Sharp, Lucy Broadwood, and John Masefield.[6]

Life and work

Anne Geddes Gilchrist was born in Manchester, to Scottish parents. She had a musical upbringing and was related to Rev Neil Livingston, who compiled a psalter. After meeting Sabine Baring-Gould she became involved with folk music and joined the editorial board of the Folk-Song Society in 1906.[7] She had an unusually good memory for hymn tunes, one of her areas of expertise. Gilchrist is a neglected figure because she did not write any books. Instead she contributed many scholarly articles to the Journal of the Folk-Song Society.[8]

In the very first edition of the Journal of the Folk-Song Society she wrote an article on the song Long Lankin. She reports that a woman in Northumberland used to frighten children by shouting "There's Long Lankin". Gilchrist collected songs from Scotland and the north-west of England. This was particularly valuable, as few folk-song collections had been made from that part of England. Following the discovery of a medieval sculpted stone in Cumberland, she was admitted to the Society of Antiquaries in 1935, at the age of 70.[9] [10] She was awarded the OBE in 1948 for her services to folk song and dance.[11] Her last scholarly article was written at the age of 79. Her papers are lodged in the Vaughan Williams Memorial Library.

External links

Notes and References

  1. Book: Brice, Douglas . The folk-carol of England . 1967 . Jenkins . London.
  2. Web site: 2007-08-11 . Folk Music Journal: Contents: volume 8 number 5 2005 . 2022-10-17 . https://web.archive.org/web/20070811124028/http://fmj.efdss.org/contents/fmj/volume_8/contents_5.htm . 11 August 2007 .
  3. Web site: Hernández . Publicado por Hortensia . Anne Geddes Gilchrist estudiosa del folclore y recopiladora de canciones . 2022-10-17.
  4. Book: Plaut . Linda . Appalachia and the Politics of Culture . Wolz . Lyn . Appalachian State University . 1995 . Two Gardeners of Song: Exploiters or Preservers?.
  5. Book: The women's forum : women in the arts in Scotland . 1994 . Chapman . Edinburgh . 978-0-906772-59-1.
  6. Book: Brady, Erika . A spiral way : how the phonograph changed ethnography . 1999 . University Press of Mississippi . Jackson . 978-1-57806-173-0.
  7. Web site: 2014-06-20 . Anne Geddes Gilchrist . 2022-10-17 . English Folk Dance and Song Society . en-gb.
  8. Book: Karpeles, Maud . An introduction to English folk song . 1987 . Oxford University Press . London ; New York . 978-0-19-284015-8.
  9. Dean-Smith . Margaret . 1957 . The Work of Anne Geddes Gilchrist, O.B.E., F.S.A. 1863–1954 . Proceedings of the Royal Musical Association . en . 84 . 43–53 . 10.1093/jrma/84.1.43 . 0080-4452.
  10. Dean-Smith . Margaret . Gilchrist . Anne Geddes . 1957 . The Work of Anne Geddes Gilchrist, O. B. E., F. S. A. 1863-1954 . Proceedings of the Royal Musical Association . 84 . 43–53 . 10.1093/jrma/84.1.43 . 766073 . 0080-4452.
  11. Web site: Anne Geddes Gilchrist Papers . 2022-10-17 . www.vwml.org.