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Description: | On this recording we hear Reece Elliott reciting/singing a kind of mummers play he recalls being used around the festive season.The Elliott family from Birtley, Co. Durham have long been associated with folk music. Best known for the singing of Jack Elliott, who died in 1966, this mining family have a seemingly endless supply of songs. Reece Elliott was the elder brother of Jack. He was born in 1894, and was a miner for most of his life. For part of his working life he worked alongside Jack, and they shared any songs. It becomes apparent when listening to recordings of Reece that his childhood involved considerable impoverishment including cast-off clothing and even, at times, bare feet. His memories of a mining village before the First World War are very important and give an insight into later attitudes towards coal owners, the mine, and the community.He was a singer and raconteur with a wide repertoire ranging from children's songs to music hall ditties, and many work related items. A strongly built man, he survived his younger brother Jack dying in 1981. He was also interested in extending his repertoire, from other singers and collections, hence the study of Barrass's Pitman's social neet, and years later in 1952 'Come all ye bold miners'. Active in the Birtley Club, he also took an interest in collecting and assisted during visits to retirement homes in the area. It is apparent from his recorded speech that he enjoyed strong family ties, the friendship of neighbours, and the preservation of dialect speech patterns. He was always ready to pass on his songs to younger performers and spent many hours writing out songs, or singing them into tape recorders to help up and coming artists.this is one of 14 songs taken from an original reel-to-reel recording. The tape from which these sound files are drawn is one of a large number of sound recordings held by the North of England Open Air Museum, Beamish, Co. Durham. This important resource is made up of oral history recordings drawn from many different sources. Some recordings have been made by the museum for their own use, whilst others have been copied from other sources or donated by other collectors and individuals. This large collection of mostly spoken word recordings also includes many recordings of singers, musicians and dancers from Durham, Northumberland and Cumbria. The collection includes recordings of Haltwhistle fiddle player George Hepple, Nenthead singer Martha Armstrong, the Elliotts of Birtley, piping competitions, Newcastleton traditional music festival, concertina bands and playground games. ; song | Rights holder: | rights holder : Beamish Museum | Subjects: | Christmas & New Year & mummers & guising festivities | Temporal: | start=1970;end=1980; | Source: | Folk Archive Resource North East | Identifier: | farne:B1705005 | Go to resource |
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