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...this green and pleasant land

Near Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire

The past, the present, the future, time, place, the people, it is these things that make up what England is, and no places are more important than the villages, for it is from them that all else has sprung. Long before the existence of the large cities there were the villages. These are just a few of them, chosen at random.
Many of them have their own websites and it is these that we have focussed on, but other that that, as we said, the villages were chosen at random. On the next page we'll provide with a fairly comprehensive listing of village websites, so you too can go and visit them and keep up with their doings. Our favourite village website is the one created, with love, by Valerie Martin, for her home village of Findon in Sussex, it's updated every day (which on the internet is indeed a rarity). The site is full of history, and comments from Valerie and others from the village, go and visit often, the site and the village deserve your support.

Horn Fair
trad. arr.
Shirley Collins, Ashley Hutchings,
Ian Holder, Vic Gammon, Terry Potter

As I was a-walking one mid-summer's morn,
So soft was the wind and the waves on the corn,
I met a pretty fair maid upon a grey mare
And she was a-riding along to Horn Fair.

“Now take me up behind you, fair maid for to ride.”
“Oh no and then no, for my mummy would chide.
And then my dear old Daddy would beat me full sore,
And never let me ride on his grey mare no more.”

“If you would see Horn Fair then walk on your way
I will not let you ride on my grey mare today.
You'd rumple all my muslin and uncurl my hair
And leave me all distressed to be seen at Horn Fair.”

“Oh fairest of maidens how can you say no?
With you I intend to Horn Fair to go.
We'll join the best of company when we do get there
With horns on our heads, boys, as fine as our hair.”

These were the finest horns as you'd ever behold
These were the finest horns as were gilded with gold
So ride merrily, merrily, Horn Fair we did go
Like jolly brisk couples, boys, and all in a row

"This song has been sung at the Ebernoe, Sussex, Horn Fair for may years. What went on at the old Horn Fair noone really knows, but nowadays the festivities are confined to a cricket match and horned-sheep roasting. These two events may at first glance seem unconnected, but what happens, in fact, is that the scorer of the highest number of runs in the match is awarded the sheep's horns!"
- Ashley Hutchings notes in his songbook A Little Music

country lane

 

snapshots of this lovely village
in Herefordshire

this Cornish village lies
about five miles east of Bodmin
on the northeastern edge of
Bodmin Moor

a delightfully beautiful village
in Warwickshire, the Heart of
England, in fact this, their official
website, is a part of the huge and
 very wonderful Heart of England website

this delightful village in
Berkshire and their extensive
website have much to offer everyone
the village has major connections with
Kenneth Grahame, author of
The Wind in the Willows and other books

the home of the famed
"Cottingley fairies" stories
read about it here, along
with much information about
the people and places of this
West Yorkshire village
 

two delightful villages in
West Wiltshire. this website
focusses on the history of
the villages

the official website
it is well worth a visit, as
there is loads of local
information and some
photos of Dilton Marsh today
 

A study of English Social Musicians
 from the 17th century onwards
from their manuscripts.

a village in Sussex, a band, and
one man's vision. a page, with other links,
from our Ashley Hutchings website

this beautiful West Sussex
village has a website
all of its own, maintained
by the incredibly talented
Valerie Martin.this link takes
you to a page we created on our
Rise Up Like The Sun website.
with all the links you'll need
to get to Valerie's website

this village in Warwickshire 
developed at the junction of
two roads; on the east the road
from Ettington which passed
Oakham Farm (Loxley Manor)
and the Vicarage, and on the
west the road from Goldicote which
skirted the base of the hill.
this is their official website. welcome 

a web-site run in conjunction with
 Rootsweb's genealogical mailing lists
( See each county Index for details)
and is set up to give people
researching family history a
glimpse into the places where
 their families came from.

by Ken Tompkins
It was once thought that medieval
peasant villages were "deserted" due
to the months of the Black Death
in 1349. Reseach at Wharram Percy --
and a few other villages -- has shown
that, on the contrary, there are over
3000 such "deserted" villages in
England and that they were depopulated
by economic forces in the 15th century

Witenas 1086 (Domesday Book).
'(Place at) the white ash-tree'.
Old English hwit
(dative -an) + ęsc.
in Warwickshire.
this their official website
lots to read and look at
please enjoy your time
with them

Wyrd folk and arcane acoustic music

Gloucestershire's best kept secret

the albion chronicles vol.2 website
is ©2005
albionchronicles
all rights reserved

the albion chronicles.2 website
is ©2005/2006/2007 sam-and-lizzie
all rights reserved