David "Doc" Rowe (born 8 December 1944) is a folklorist, author and film-maker who lives and works in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. A graduate of

Hornsey College of Art Hornsey College of Art (a.k.a. Hornsey School of Art) was a college in Crouch End in the London Borough of Haringey, England. The HCA was "an iconic British art institution, renowned for its experimental and progressive approach to art and design ...

s, he is a prominent lecturer on and advocate for folk traditions and

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has b ...

. Described by ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' as "Britain’s greatest folklorist", over a 50-year career Rowe has built a substantial collection of photographs and audio-visual material, cited by the

British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is one of the largest libraries in the world. It is estimated to contain between 170 and 200 million items from many countries. As a legal deposit library, the British ...

as an ‘internationally significant archive of British folk life, lore and cultural tradition.

Early life and education

David R. Rowe was born in

Torquay Torquay ( ) is a seaside town in Devon, England, part of the unitary authority area of Torbay. It lies south of the county town of Exeter and east-north-east of Plymouth, on the north of Tor Bay, adjoining the neighbouring town of Paig ...

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devo ...

in December 1944. He attended Torquay Boys Grammar School, followed by Newton Abbot College of Art, Leeds Regional College of Art and

where he gained a first degree in fine art, and finished a post-graduate year at the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

in 1971.

Career

Since the 1960s, Rowe has focused on collecting and celebrating

folklore Folklore is shared by a particular group of people; it encompasses the traditions common to that culture, subculture or group. This includes oral traditions such as tales, legends, proverbs and jokes. They include material culture, ranging ...

, oral history and the vernacular music and traditions of Britain and Ireland. In 2002, Rowe was awarded an honorary doctorate in music from the University of Sheffield, and in 2005 received the

English Folk Dance and Song Society The English Folk Dance and Song Society (EFDSS, or pronounced 'EFF-diss') is an organisation that promotes English folk music and folk dance. EFDSS was formed in 1932 when two organisations merged: the Folk-Song Society and the English Folk Dan ...

's Gold Badge for his documentation of traditional Song and Dance. Rowe has been a committee member of the

Oral History Society The Oral History Society promotes the collection, preservation and use of recorded memories of the past. As well as offering practical advice and support, the Society aims to raise standards in oral history practices across a range of activities ...

; the Traditional Song Forum; and the

Folklore Society The Folklore Society (FLS) is a national association in the United Kingdom for the study of folklore. It was founded in London in 1878 to study traditional vernacular culture, including traditional music, song, dance and drama, narrative, arts an ...

, which in 2007 presented Rowe with its Coote Lake Medal for his research into folklore. Rowe developed an early interest in traditional song, stemming largely from 1950s BBC radio broadcasts. Performing on the folk club circuit as a singer from 1963, he met BBC producer Charles Parker, who – with Ewan MacColl and

Peggy Seeger Margaret "Peggy" Seeger (born June 17, 1935) is an American folk singer. She has lived in Britain for more than 60 years, and was married to the singer and songwriter Ewan MacColl until his death in 1989. First American period Seeger's father ...

– was working on the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

...

The Doc Rowe archive

As of 2021, the work of housing and preserving the archive has been largely self-funded by Rowe, supported by sales of photographic work, lecturing and broadcasting. The collection has additionally been financially supported by a Support Group established in the early 2000s by friends and colleagues. Rowe's own recordings have been substantially used for multiple releases, including the

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery (United Kingdom), National Lot ...

’s ‘Here’s a Health to the Barley Mow’ DVD compilation of British folk customs (2011); and ‘You Lazy Lot of Bone-Shakers’ (2007), a CD anthology of song and dance tunes from seasonal events in England, released as part of

Topic Records Topic Records is a British folk music label, which played a major role in the second British folk revival. It began as an offshoot of the Workers' Music Association in 1939, making it the oldest independent record label in the world.M. Brocken, ...

’

The Voice of the People ''The Voice of the People'' is an anthology of folk songs produced by Topic Records containing recordings of traditional singers and musicians from England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. The series was first issued in 1998 as 20 CDs, compiled by Dr ...

series. Rowe's recordings also include two releases of

Padstow Padstow (; kw, Lannwedhenek) is a town, civil parish and fishing port on the north coast of Cornwall, England. The town is situated on the west bank of the River Camel estuary approximately northwest of Wadebridge, northwest of Bodmin and ...

Christmas carols – ''Rouse Rouse'' (Veteran Tapes, 1996); and ''Harky Harky'' (ReZound, 2000). Rowe also provided the recordings for two releases by the Scottish singer and story-teller

Sheila Stewart Sheila Stewart (7 July 1937 – 9 December 2014) was a Scottish traditional singer, storyteller, and author. She inherited a large number of traditional songs from older family members, including her mother Belle Stewart. Biography Born in ...

, daughter of

Belle Stewart Belle Stewart, born Isobella McGregor, (18 July 1906 – 4 September 1997) was a Scottish Traveller traditional singer. Her biography, ''Queen Amang the Heather: the Life of Belle Stewart'', was written by her daughter, Sheila Stewart, and publis ...

, of the noted family of singing travellers, the Stewarts of Blair – ''The Heart of the Tradition'' (Topic Records, 1999), and also ''...And Time Goes On: Sheila Stewart, Storyteller'' (Offspring, 2000).

Exhibitions

Rowe is a frequent collaborator with artists and curators in the shaping of exhibitions that draw from his archive. In 2000, his photographs were included by prominent British contemporary artists

Jeremy Deller Jeremy Deller (born 30 March 1966) is an English conceptual, video and installation artist. Much of Deller's work is collaborative; it has a strong political aspect, in the subjects dealt with and also the devaluation of artistic ego through th ...

and Alan Kane in ''Intelligence – New British Art 2000'' (

Tate Britain Tate Britain, known from 1897 to 1932 as the National Gallery of British Art and from 1932 to 2000 as the Tate Gallery, is an art museum on Millbank in the City of Westminster in London, England. It is part of the Tate network of galleries in ...

, London). Building upon this, in 2005 he worked again with Deller and Kane, on their

British Council The British Council is a British organisation specialising in international cultural and educational opportunities. It works in over 100 countries: promoting a wider knowledge of the United Kingdom and the English language (and the Welsh lan ...

-supported ''Folk Archive'' project – which as of 2020 continues to tour the UK, and internationally. In 2012, the

Museum of British Folklore A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of art Art is a diverse range of human activity, and resulting product, that involve ...

, in partnership with the

Museum of East Anglian Life The Food Museum, formerly the Museum of East Anglian Life, is a museum in Stowmarket, Suffolk, England, which specialises in presenting the agricultural history of East Anglia through a mixture of exhibits and living history demonstrations. Hi ...

Stowmarket Stowmarket ( ) is a market town in Suffolk, England,OS Explorer map 211: Bury St.Edmunds and Stowmarket Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – Southampton A2 edition. Publishing Date:2008. on the busy A14 trunk road between Bury St Edm ...

, Suffolk, staged an exhibition, ''The Doc Rowe Archive: 50 years of Focusing on Folk'', drawing upon Rowe's extensive collection. Rowe's photographs were also included in the 2014

exhibition ''British Folk Art''. In 2019, Rowe collaborated with photographer Bryony Bainbridge, printmaker and poet Natalie Reid, and multimedia artist Anna F. C. Smith on ''Lore and the Living Archive'', an Arts Council England-funded exhibition that toured the UK, with residencies at

Cecil Sharp House Cecil may refer to: People with the name * Cecil (given name), a given name (including a list of people and fictional characters with the name) * Cecil (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the name) Places Canada *Cecil, Alberta, ...

, the London headquarters of the

; Touchstones museum in

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, at the foothills of the South Pennines in the dale on the River Roch, northwest of Oldham and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough ...

Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county and combined authority area in North West England, with a population of 2.8 million; comprising ten metropolitan boroughs: Manchester, Salford, Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport, Tam ...

; and the Pannett Art Gallery, Whitby, North Yorkshire.

Publications

* ''We'll Call Once More Unto Your House'' adstow Eko 1982* ''Comes the Morris Dancer In'' orris Ring 1984 * ''Room, Room, Ladies and Gentlemen: An Introduction to the English Mummers' Play'' (ed. Malcolm Taylor & Doc Rowe) FDSS in association with the Folklore Society, 2002 * A series of educational resource packs FDSS 1993–1995* ''May: an education resource pack for the Summer term on British traditions'' FDSS 1993 * ''Midwinter (Education Resource Pack No 2)'' FDSS 1994 * ''Plough Monday to Hocktide: Education Resource Pack No 3 for the Spring Term on British Traditions'' FDSS 1995 * ''May Day: The Coming of Spring'' nglish Heritage 2006 * ''Have You Ever Seen a Penguin Come to Tea?'' FDSS, 2008* ''Down by the Riverside'' FDSS, 2008

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rowe, Doc British folklorists Writers from Torquay Whitby 1944 births Living people Mass media people from Torquay