Song and a Sense of Place

• Date: 26th Apr 2025
• Firth Court, University of Sheffield, Western Bank, Sheffield S10 2TN
• Organiser: Traditional Song Forum
• Website

Song and a sense of place

CALL FOR PAPERS

A one-day in-person conference organised by the Traditional Song Forum in association with the Centre for Contemporary Folklore

Date: Saturday 26 April 2025; 10am – 5pm

Venue: Council Room, Firth Court, University of Sheffield, Western Bank, Sheffield S10 2TN

Admission free, but prior booking essential

Contact: Steve Roud ([email protected])

Place features strongly in traditional song in a variety of ways. Where a song was sung matters, but that where might not refer to a point on the map but to ‘in the pub’, ‘at work’, or ‘at home’. There are also local songs, composed by a member of a community about that community, and there are songs about a particular place that are written by outsiders – ‘Galway Bay’ or ‘I Belong to Glasgow’ – which might be adopted by insiders. Other songs are localised – not all poachers come from Lincolnshire, not all fairs are at Widecombe. Location is not always positive, and a place might appear in a song for its negative connotations – ‘Up to the rigs of London’. Or place may be somewhere protagonists are forced to leave, banished from, excluded from, or somewhere they long to return to. Some places are generic settings – ‘Hills and dales and flowery vales’, or ‘Heathery mountains’ – others are imaginary. One way or another, place is everywhere. How does a sense of place affect the way song is perceived, or performed, or believed?

We invite 20 minute papers, or other presentations, on one or more of the above themes, or other topics relating to song and a sense of place. Remote presentations will be considered.