Background
He was born in Leeds, where he lived for most of his life.
He was born in Leeds, where he lived for most of his life.
His early work on folk music, published in Old English Country Dances (1890) and Traditional Tunes (1891) gave impetus to a rising interest in the subject. He was one of the founders of the Folk-Song Society in 1898 and guided its publications with his knowledge of early ballad literature. Other aspects of the developing folksong revival were less welcome to him, in particular Cecil Sharp’s enthusiasm for institutionalising folk music and dance in education.
He published one further book of folk music A Garland of English Folk-Songs (1926).
And after his death, on 7 November 1926, Ethel Kidson edited two further books from his collections, Folk Songs of the North Countrie (1927) and English Peasant Songs (1929). In these collections, they worked in association with Alfred Edward Moffat.
He also worked on other aspects of musical history, writing British Music Publishers, Printers and Engravers (1900) and The Beggar’s Opera: Its Predecessors and Successors (1922), and contributing many articles to the Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians.