One day in October, two bellringing teams, five churches – what a fabulous way to celebrate the Sabine Baring-Gould Centenary!
‘One Day in October’ was one of three events we organised as our contribution to the centenary programme, marking the 100th anniversary of Baring-Gould’s death in 1924. The day recreated the story told in the Devon Bellringing Song, which Baring-Gould collected on New Year’s Eve 1890, when he heard it being sung at the Saracen’s Head at Two Bridges on Dartmoor by local farmer, William George Kerswell.
Two brilliant bellringing teams from the Devon Association of Ringers – North Devon and South Devon – re-enacted the competition in the song, where the bellringing men of Northlew and Broadwoodwidger ring at five churches in West Devon and East Cornwall.
The opening lines set the scene for the story: “One day in October, neither drunken nor sober; O’er Broadbury Down I was mending my way; When I heard of some ringing, some dancing and singing; I’ll always remember that jubilee day.”
In the re-enactment, the two ringing teams had to do the same peal at every church. They were followed on their journey by a coach with our group of singers who sang during the day and people who’d bought tickets to take part in this unique event.
The coach party had an early start, setting off from Okehampton at 8.30am for the first stop, Northlew. Here, the ringers put on a demonstration of bellringing and there was a talk about what the judges look for when they’re judging the teams. Then it was on to Ashwater, where the main competition took place. The team from the north won and they were presented with a hat and a belt laced with gold, as is mentioned in the song. Broadwoodwidger was the third church, where both teams rang without being judged, and the coach party were able to have a go at bellringing.
The north team then had to head back to north Devon for a scheduled ringing match at Mariansleigh, so the south team rang at the two Cornish churches. At St Stephens in Launceston, they did a demonstration of bellringing, and finally, at Callington, the ringers played a variety of tunes.
Throughout the day, the ringers and coach party were well fed and watered by our voluntary caterers, Ale & Cake. Food included cakes made in the shape of a bell, and cakes “laced with gold” – in the form of cheesy muffins!
Then it was back to Okehampton in the evening, for a traditional Ringers Supper for ringers, judges, Wren Music’s choir and audience. We shared songs and some (very bad) bellringing jokes!
Our Creative director, Marilyn Tucker, said: “It was a beautiful autumn day, the mist was rising from the valleys as we set off and we had glorious sunshine all day.
“We had all sorts of different people with us: a bellringer who wanted to come with us on the coach, people from Plymouth who were interested in the song, other people who were interested in the bellringing, and people who are new to the area and wanted to learn about the local history and traditions. The day had a real festival feel.”
So, who was the overall winner, and what was the prize? “The south team won, because they rang at all five churches,” said Marilyn. “So at the Ringers Supper, they received their prize of £5 and ale, as referenced in the song. It was a lovely way to end a fantastic day.”
Next year is the 100th anniversary of the Devon Association of Ringers, and we’re hoping to be part of another collaboration with them as part of those celebrations.
The Fiddle Tunes of William Andrews, as collected by Baring-Gould, took place at Church Hall in Okehampton and was held in partnership with the Devonshire Association’s Music and Folklore Section and the Baring-Gould Centenary Committee.
The event was presented by our community musician Paul Wilson, and Devon fiddler Ben van Weede. The evening started with a short presentation from Paul about William Andrews, the traditional fiddle player from Sheepstor who was visited by Baring-Gould in the 1890s.
Paul and Ben then played tunes from the collection, arranged for fiddle, guitar and other instruments. The audience had been encouraged to bring their own instruments and the evening finished with Paul and Ben teaching them some new tunes. “It was truly delightful to rekindle my playing relationship with Ben,” Paul said. “We’ve both gone our separate ways since making an album of English fiddle music and this event brought us back together both as performers and teachers: an absolute delight! Special thanks to The Devonshire Association for providing some funding for the event.”
Our third event was a folk music session at The Blue Lion in Lewdown, featuring Marilyn Tucker & Paul Wilson, and Baring-Gould scholars, Martin & Shan Graebe. We were treated to a parody of Widecombe Fair by the Centenary Committee Chair, Graham Yeo, who changed the words with the names of people in the pub. And instead of “grey mare”, it was a grey Fergie tractor!
Beforehand, we attended the unveiling of a blue plaque at the gate of Lewtrenchard Manor with two of Baring-Gould’s great, great grandchildren, Douglas Almond Jnr and his sister Betsy McGregor. We also put flowers on Sabine’s grave and sang Now the Day is Over, the only hymn for which he wrote both the words and the tune.
Marilyn said: “We were delighted to see so many people come along to all the events, to get involved, and take part. They helped to make the events very special, and a fitting way to celebrate Sabine’s centenary.”
