The Holmfirth Anthem, also known as Pratty Flowers (''sic''), Abroad for Pleasure and Through the Groves, is an
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
choral
folk song
Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be c ...
associated with
Yorkshire
Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...
, especially the rural West Riding, and particularly with the area around
Holmfirth
Holmfirth is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees, West Yorkshire, England, on the A635 and A6024 in the Holme Valley, at the confluence of the River Holme and Ribble, south of Huddersfield and west of Barnsley. It mostly consist ...
.
["The Holmfirth Anthem or Pratty Flowers", ''Journal of the Folk Song Society'', VI (1922), 9]
Despite its non-religious subject matter and its setting on a "summer's evening clear", the song has become part of the Yorkshire "village
carol" or folk carol tradition, though it is also sung at other times of year.
[''English Dance and Song'' (Journal of the Folk Dance and Song society), v.47-48 (1985), 16] It has
Roud number
The Roud Folk Song Index is a database of around 250,000 references to nearly 25,000 songs collected from oral tradition in the English language from all over the world. It is compiled by Steve Roud (born 1949), a former librarian in the London ...
1046.
History
Many sources state the song was the work of Joe Perkin (1809–1868),
[A]
advertisement for the sheet music
appeared in the ''Huddersfield Chronicle'', 2 January 1858, which described it as being "sung with great applause at the last Concert in Holmfirth by Miss Hirst, Miss Crosland, Mr. Wood, Mr. Garner, and several well known Huddersfield Amateurs". a choirmaster at Holmfirth in the mid 19th century.
[Pickles, W. and Kerrod N. "Pratty flowers: A Yorkshire Mystery", ''Saddleworth Historical Society Bulletin'', 11(2), 1981, 37–38] A local tradition maintained that Perkin lived at Cliffe near Holmfirth, was a woolsorter by profession, and was paid 2 guineas by the Holmfirth Choral Society for arranging the song.
[Bland, D. "Notes": ''A Fine Hunting Day, Songs of the Holme Valley Beagles,'' LP LEE 4056]
It is clear that Perkin did not write the tune or text, but rather produced an adaption of an earlier ballad for four-part harmony, which was then published locally. Related folk songs have been collected in southern England, although they are very rare. These 19th century variants are likely derived from a substantially longer 18th-century slip-ballad, ''The Maiden's Complaint for the Loss of her Shepherd'', which was printed in about 1790, though the original text could be older.
[Palmer, R. ''Bushes and Briars: Folk Songs Collected by Ralph Vaughan Williams'', Llanerch, 1999, p.178] The very different, and textually corrupt version of the song found in southern England is usually known by the title ''Through the Groves''.
The song retained enormous popularity in Holmfirth well into the 20th century, partly through being sung ''en masse'' at the end of yearly town concerts—the "Holmfirth Feast Sing", held in Victoria Park a week before
Whitsun
Whitsun (also Whitsunday or Whit Sunday) is the name used in Britain, and other countries among Anglicans and Methodists, for the Christian High Holy Day of Pentecost. It is the seventh Sunday after Easter, which commemorates the descent of the Ho ...
between 1882 and 1990
["The Sing and Whit walks in Holmfirth", ''Huddersfield Daily Examiner'', 19 May 2007]—leading to it becoming known as the "Holmfirth Anthem". It is still often sung informally in villages in the Holme Valley area, although it is also found in the East Riding. It is a popular choice at village carol "sings" at
Christmas
Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus, Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by country, around t ...
, or at hunt meets in farming districts.
Text and variants
The process of adaption and shortening of the original slip-ballad has left the text with a number of structural peculiarities. A number of variants exist, with different Yorkshire villages usually having their own particular texts. A common version from the Holmfirth area, with some other local variants, is as follows:
"Pratty" is simply a
Yorkshire dialect
The Yorkshire dialect (also known as Broad Yorkshire, Tyke, Yorkie or Yorkshire English) is a dialect of English, or continuum of dialects, spoken in the Yorkshire region of Northern England. The dialect has roots in Old English and is influen ...
pronunciation of "pretty", but is almost invariably written (and pronounced) "pratty".
In performance, each stanza is usually sung with a soloist singing the two first lines, with the ensemble repeating the two lines in four-part harmony: the soloist then sings the last three lines of the stanza (strictly two lines, with the last repeated), with the ensemble repeating them in harmony. The final three lines of the last stanza are often given an extra repeat, or occasionally several.
Recordings
There have been studio recordings of the Holmfirth Anthem by
Kate Rusby
Kate Anna Rusby (born 4 December 1973) is an English English folk music, folk singer-songwriter from Penistone, West Riding of Yorkshire, England. Sometimes called the "Barnsley Nightingale", she has headlined various British folk festivals, an ...
,
The Watersons
The Watersons were an English folk group from Hull, Yorkshire. They performed mainly traditional songs with little or no accompaniment. Their distinctive sound came from their closely woven harmonies. They have been called the "most famous fam ...
,
The Albion Band
The Albion Band, also known as The Albion Country Band, The Albion Dance Band, and The Albion Christmas Band, were a British folk rock band, originally brought together and led by musician Ashley Hutchings. Generally considered one of the mo ...
and others, though a number of field recordings exist of more typical community performances.
References
{{reflist
External links
Recording at the Fountain Inn, Ingbirchworth, December 1974 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 ...
Collection
English folk songs
Yorkshire culture
Holmfirth