FTX100 - I AM A ROMANY

PHOEBE & JOE SMITH & Family

Phoebe & Joe Smith - talking and singing, recorded 1956 & 1962 at Melton. near Woodbridge, Suffolk. Although Phoebe & Joe were living in a bungalow with hop-plants in the garden, they still had their wagons there, alongside their scrap-metal business, and most of the chat and singing was around the campfire. Phoebe and Joe's memories were of Kent: the hop-picking, their courtship, the wartime air raids and the funnier side of their hard times. This recording includes 10 classic ballads from Phoebe, and fiddle-playing from Joe. Their son, Joe sings "The Riddle Song" and plays harmonica for step-dancing.

1. I AM A ROMANY: Words, then song, from Phoebe - 3'00"

2. Talk by Joe and Phoebe about herself & singing - 2'02"

3. DOWN BY THE SHEEPFOLD (or "The Blackberry Fold"): Phoebe - 4'35"

4. Her singing and about the family - 0'50"

5. YOUNG ELLENDER: tune, story and song - 4'42"

6. Further talk about family - 0'38"

7. CAPTAIN THUNDERBOLT ("Down by the Shannon Side"): Phoebe - 1'59"

8. Talk about preceding & following songs and family - 1'01"

9. MOLLY VARDEN (or "Polly Vaughan") (talk before) Phoebe - 5'03"

10. Talk about her uncle, George Scamp, and her father - 1'14"

11. THE OXFORD GIRL: Phoebe - 3'37"

12. Joe & Phoebe: talk about courtship, marriage and death - 4'04"

13. THE RIDDLE SONG: first verse by their son, Joe - 0'41"

14. Further talk about the birth of Joe and work - 6'09"

15. HIGHER GERMANIE: Phoebe - 2'03"

16. Talk about "Blitz" (2nd World War) and losing her mother - 3'06"

17. Step-dancing with mouth-organ and further talk about family - 2'23"

18. THE HOPPING SONG: Phoebe - 0'18"

19. Stories with Joe's fiddling and about life today - 4'20"

20. A BLACKSMITH COURTED ME: tune & song from Phoebe - 4.25

Recorded & edited by Peter Kennedy and first published on Folktrax Cassettes 1975.

PHOEBE SMITH was born at Faversham, Kent, in 1913. Her father was Bill Scamp, a horse-dealer, and her mother was Annie Jones, a wardrobe dealer from Crowborough, Sussex. She learned her songs from her parents and from her two uncles, George Scamp and Oliver Scamp, a tinker "Who could make a kettle out of a penny piece". Phoebe and Joe were married at Ickham, near Canterbury and spent most of their married life in Tilbury, with occasional visits to the fruit farms to see their family. Both Joe and Phoebe were Romany speaking.

Charlie Scamp, Phoebe's cousin, recorded by Peter Kennedy in 1954, can be heard on FOLKTRAX-140 featuring English Gypsy singers from the Sussex and Kent area. Other recordings of Southern English Gypsies can be heard on FT-042 Rebecca Penfold & family and FT-043 Carolyne Hughes & family.

The Welsh Romany tradition is represented on FT-053 featuring Hywel and Manfri Wood. On FT-441 "CAN YOU POOKER ROMANY ?" the language of the English and Welsh Romanies as well as Scots and Irish travellers are sampled.