TALK AT THE VILLAGE HALL
On MONDAY OCTOBER 18th at 7.30pm we welcome TODD GRAY to the Village Hall. Many of you will know Todd as an entertaining speaker and this time his theme has a very Devon flavour.
“The Devon ballad that conquered the world: Uncle Tom Cobley & All” – talk and illustrations by Dr Todd Gray
Widecombe fair is Devon’s most famous folk song, but what’s the origin of the story behind the famous characters – Tom Cobley, Bill Brewer, Jan Stewer, Tom Pearse, and his old grey mare?
We welcome you to an evening of word and song revealing the long and curious history of Devon’s anthem. For the first time the fascinating history of this ancient song will be told, and we will be reintroduced to more than 50 variants, most of them long forgotten and some after hundreds of years.
Widecombe Fair has become an iconic part of Devon’s heritage. Todd’s interest in Tom Cobley began in 1995 when he happened upon an unknown version of the song, and he realised then that the lyrics were much earlier than those which Sabine Baring-Gould had made famous in 1889. Todd will talk about its long and fascinating history.
Lanterns 2021
We are ready to go with this year’s Lantern festival. This year we would like to restore the candlelit Lantern procession culminating with mulled wine and mince pies in St. Andrew’s Church as well as encouraging as many of you as possible to light up your windows and gardens for the ‘Window Wanderland’ trail. The procession is set to take place on the evening of Saturday November 27th whilst windows and gardens can be decorated over the whole weekend from Friday November 26th to Sunday November 28th. As in previous years there will be prizes and trophies but participation in this much-loved community event is the main prize.
Please note that both events will only go ahead if they comply with covid restrictions at that time.
John Marsh
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