Working with tradition: towards a partnership model of fieldwork

As the research progressed, my approach to the fieldwork reflected the wider concerns of progressive folklorists in the 1970s, moving from a focus on the items of tradition to a concern for the processes that distinguished it. From 1970 to 1972 the area to the north-west of Sheffield was surveyed and recordings were made to establish the different repertoires in the key venues. [7] This survey was widened and consolidated over a number of years by hundreds of hours of further recording of the singing in context, by interviews, and by archive and library research, with the purpose of investigating and understanding how the tradition fitted into the lives of the singers and their communities, the meanings it brought, and the significance it held for them.

Over a decade or so of regular contact, my status within each of the ten groups gradually changed and developed. In the pub-based groups, which have tended to draw their participants from an ever-widening network, I was no longer treated as an outsider or "incomer," but accepted as a participating member of the groups, albeit with an unusual and special agenda. With the perambulatory groups, however, my role remained distinct. Here the relationship was one of mutual respect; I recognised their role as significant performers of a distinct carol repertoire, while they regarded me as their local historian and archivist. Moreover, I found that they were unashamedly using me as a conduit for information about other carolling groups and the carols that they sang. They were naturally curious to discover how their carolling tradition compared with others, both in terms of similarity and difference.

In 1973, I was approached by a specialist record company to produce an LP of field recordings and, after consultation with the participants, this project went ahead with their support (Russell and Leader 1974). It was well received among the three communities involved (Oughtibridge, Ecclesfield, and Dungworth). More than ten years later, following a BBC Radio 4 programme that featured the carol singing at the Black Bull, Ecclesfield, I was encouraged by the singers to produce a tape of their carols, the BBC producer having kindly donated his high-quality master-copies for that purpose. When the tape was published, a scholarly basis was ensured by the inclusion of a forty-eight-page book with a detailed account of the tradition, as well as notes, references, and transcriptions of the words. Following on from this publication, other carolling communities were keen to have their tradition similarly recorded, and, in response to this demand, a publication programme was undertaken. Ten significant traditions were systematically documented and recordings compiled. This material formed the basis of a cassette (later CD) and book series (see Appendix).

Celebratory Contexts

Besides the effects of the fieldwork in terms of publication, there were other developments taking place in the context of performance that were to a certain extent attributable to the impact of the research, especially the "discovery" of significant local manuscripts.