Dave Townsend (Director) - Concertina, Voice

Caroline Butler - Violin, Voice

Philip Humphries - Serpent, Trombone, Voice


The Thomas Hardy Song Book presents the singing tradition that Hardy knew as a boy, and which permeates the world of his poems and novels. There are songs of love, seafaring, revelry and the supernatural alongside carols, part-songs and dance music. In later life he wrote down the songs of his family and neighbours, quoted them in his poems, novels and biographical writings, and played them on the violin from his family collection of manuscript music books. In this costume performance they are introduced by Hardy’s own words and the Dorset dialect poems of his friend and mentor William Barnes, and accompanied by village band instruments fiddle, concertina, serpent and trombone.