St. Mary’s church, Totnes, is the host for a bumper evening of songs collected in Devon over a hundred years ago.

2024 is the centenary of the passing both of Rev. Sabine Baring Gould (1834-1924) of Lew Trenchard and London-based musician Cecil Sharp (1859-1924).

Their collections of songs will be celebrated by Martin Scragg and Sam Richards, two of South Devon’s most established singers of traditional song.

Cecil Sharp is best known for collecting songs in Somerset and subsequently in the Appalachians, but he also found some good singers in North Devon.

Baring Gould ranged over different parts of Devon and a little in Cornwall, but is most associated with working around Dartmoor.

Martin Scragg was one of the pioneers of the folk revival in Torbay but is also known as a singer/guitarist much further afield. He started and hosted the Country House folk club in Torquay and was one of the organizers of the legendary Devon Dumpling Club.

Sam Richards is also known as a composer of experimental music, a jazz pianist and improviser. His singing of folk material goes back many years as dies his own fieldwork in collecting songs. His audio collection is held by the British Library. These two bring many years of experience and a deep love of local song traditions to their performances whether solo or together, recorded or live.

The concert is on May 31.

It starts at 7.30pm and is £12 on the door. Tickets for £10 can be pre-booked on the Totnes Pulse website.