FTX-280 - RUMPSY BUMPSY

GEORGE MAYNARD

POP'S IN THE PUB

GEORGE MAYNARD (1872-1962) champion folk-singer, champion Tinsley Green marble-player and legend of the "Cherry Tree" pub, Copthorne, is heard, both singing with a chorus of friends gathered on a Saturday night in The Cherry Tree, Copthorne, Crawley, E. Sussex. Other singers include local performers: George HOLMAN, Jean HOPKINS, and local song collectors: Mervyn PLUNKETT and Kenneth STUBBS. Peter Kennedy made the recording in 1956 and supplied some melodeon music for step-dancing.

1. RUMPSY BUMPSY - 2'29"

2. POLLY ON THE SHORE - 3'24"

3. STEP-DANCING played by Peter Kennedy (melodeon) - 1'01"

4. DAME DURDEN - sung by Jean HOPKINS - 1'39"

5. SWEET NIGHTINGALES (Birds in the Spring) - 3'11"

6. Carol: WHILE SHEPHERDS WATCHED (talk bef & aft) - 2'06"

7. JACK PULLED THE STRING (talk aft) - 1'27"

8. THREE JOLLY BREWERS (Jones's Ale) - 3'45"

9. THE LAKES OF COLDFINN (talk bef) - 4'23"

10. THE SWEET PRIMEROSES (talk aft) - 3'38"

11. THE TOOTING MURDER (talk bef) - 1'49"

12. PRETTY SUSAN - 4'03"

13. THE DARK-EYED SAILOR with Jean HOPKINS, Mervyn PLUNKETT, Kenneth STUBBS & Peter KENNEDY (melodeon) - 4'03"

14. THE SEEDS OF LOVE - sung by MP, KS, JH & Pop Maynard - 5'45"

15. THE WEEK BEFORE EASTER - sung by Jean HOPKINS - 3'46"

16. A WAGER, A WAGER (Broomfield Hill) - 4'15"

17. WATCHMAKER'S SONG George HOLMAN with chorus & melodeon - 1'38"

18. LANSDOWN FAIR (Tom Pearce) - 3'19"

19. THE LAZY MOOCHER sung by Tom SMART - 1'19

20. DOWN IN THE VALLEY (Lost Lady Found) (Ch omitted except last) - 5'10"

Recorded by Peter Kennedy at "The Cherry Tree", Copthorne, 1956.

"POP" (George) MAYNARD was born at Smallfield, Surrey, 6th. January, 1872, and died at Copthorne, Sussex, 29th.November, 1962. Apart from being well-known locally as a singer with a good fund of songs, George was more widely known as a champion at the annual Marble Championships held every Good Friday at Tinsley Green. His team first started winning in 1948. Affectionately known as "Pop", he worked in the woods around Copthorne as a bark-stripper and learned many of his songs from gypsies. We are indebted to the Mervyn Plunkett, Kenneth Stubbs and Jean Hopkins for setting up the recording session and the landlord Arthur Simmons, landlord of the Cherry Tree pub. More information about "Pop" can be found in "The Life and Times of George Maynard" contributed by Ken Stubbs to the Journal of The English Folk Dance and Song Society 1963 pp.180-196.

Other songs, mainly recorded in his own cottage, with talk about himself, can be heard on FTX-279 rec in 1955: BLUE-EYED MARY FULLER & THE IRISH HOPE-POLE PULLER, OXFORD CITY (Poison in a glass of wine), THREE SONS O' ROGUES (Miller, weaver & tailor), DOWN BY THE SEASIDE, THE AYLESBURY GIRL, BOLD GENERAL WOLFE, LOCKS AND BOLTS, SHOOTING GOSCHEN'S COCK-UPS, WILLIAM TAYLOR (Keepers & Poachers), THE POOR OLD WEAVER'S DAUGHTER, THE BANKS OF CLAUDY, COLIN AND PHOEBE, GROUND FOR THE FLOOR, ROLLING IN THE DEW, SAILOR IN THE NORTH COUNTRIE.