I am familiar with some of the work of Cecil Sharp but I hadn't really given much thought to the Appalachian connection.

With regard to songs, my family stuck to the tunes of the day but at the end of the evening they would sing a few songs that went back in time. Most of my Aunts could play piano and one or two of the men would play banjo, washboard and spoons. One Uncle played drums but spent most of his time doing a tap dance. Curiously, one of 'our' songs was 'Coney Island Washboard Roundelay'. None of them had been to the USA. Why were we singing that? Our version had a long chorus to enable an East-End Knees-up.

English country dancing was on our school curriculum in late '50's, early '60's London suburbs. That may be down to Cecil Sharp.

I just went back thru 5 months of posts on the Roll Call to find this! Mike Seegar's talking feet.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ngR7p_7MCY

Last edited by Armchaired (2013-05-07 15:38:30)

Indeed many planters came from southwest Scotland, but many also came from the unstable regions along the border between England and scotland. By moving the Borderers to Ireland It would both solve the Border problem and tie down Ulster. .