Brenda Wootton
Encyclopedia
Cornwall
Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...
poetess and folk singer
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
and was seen as an ambassador for Cornish
Cornish people
The Cornish are a people associated with Cornwall, a county and Duchy in the south-west of the United Kingdom that is seen in some respects as distinct from England, having more in common with the other Celtic parts of the United Kingdom such as Wales, as well as with other Celtic nations in Europe...
tradition and culture in all the Celtic nations and as far away as Australia and Canada.
She began her musical career as a young schoolgirl, singing in village halls throughout the remote communities of west Cornwall
Cornwall
Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...
. Wootton became active on the folk scene in the early 60s and almost single-handedly kept the Cornish folk song tradition alive for many years.
Her early albums were recorded on Cornwall's Sentinel label, often with her singing partners John the Fish (also known as John Langford http://www.tarrandean.freeserve.co.uk/fish_main.htm), Robert Bartlett and later with guitarists Pete Berryman, Mike Silver, Al Fenn, David Penhale and Chris Newman. Many of her memorable songs were written by Richard Gendall
Richard Gendall
Richard Gendall is a British expert on the Cornish language, born in 1924. He is the founder of "Modern Cornish"/Curnoack Nowedga, which split off during the 1980s. Whereas Ken George mainly went to Medieval Cornish as the inspiration for his revival, Gendall went to the last surviving records of...
. Her repertoire over the years covered folk
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
, rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
, blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
, jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
and even hymns, but she is best remembered for her Cornish "standards" such as Lamorna
Lamorna (folk song)
I met the other evening at the corner of the square.She had a dark and roving eye, she was a charming rover,And we rode all night, through the pale moonlight away down to Lamorna.ChorusTwas down in Albert squareI never shall forget,...
, The White Rose
The White Rose (song)
The White Rose is a traditional Cornish folk song, the chorus of which appeared in the film Ladies in Lavender . The song remains popular and has been recorded by many of the Cornish male voice choirs and is often performed at funerals...
, Camborne Hill
Camborne Hill
Camborne Hill is a Cornish song that celebrates Richard Trevithick's historic steam engine ride up Camborne Hill, to Beacon on Christmas Eve in 1801. A commemorative plaque is inlaid in a wall...
, The Stratton Carol and the hauntingly beautiful ballads Mordonnow, Tamar, Silver Net and Lyonesse.
Wootton was equally at home when singing in Cornish
Cornish language
Cornish is a Brythonic Celtic language and a recognised minority language of the United Kingdom. Along with Welsh and Breton, it is directly descended from the ancient British language spoken throughout much of Britain before the English language came to dominate...
, Breton
Breton language
Breton is a Celtic language spoken in Brittany , France. Breton is a Brythonic language, descended from the Celtic British language brought from Great Britain to Armorica by migrating Britons during the Early Middle Ages. Like the other Brythonic languages, Welsh and Cornish, it is classified as...
or English and was as famous in Brittany
Brittany
Brittany is a cultural and administrative region in the north-west of France. Previously a kingdom and then a duchy, Brittany was united to the Kingdom of France in 1532 as a province. Brittany has also been referred to as Less, Lesser or Little Britain...
, which she visited regularly, as she was in her native Cornwall. She opened her own folk club, the Pipers Folk Club, at St Buryan
St Buryan
St Buryan is a civil parish and village in Cornwall, United Kingdom.The village of St Buryan is situated approximately five miles west of Penzance along the B3283 towards Land's End...
, Cornwall and appeared in the first ever Lorient Interceltic Festival
Festival Interceltique de Lorient
The Festival Interceltique de Lorient or Gouelioù Etrekeltiek An Oriant was founded in Lorient, Brittany in 1971 by Polig Montjarret...
in Brittany.
Wootton was a member of the Gorseth Kernow
Gorseth Kernow
Gorseth Kernow is a non-political Cornish organisation, which exists to maintain the national Celtic spirit of Cornwall in the United Kingdom.-History:...
, where she was known by her Bardic name
Bardic name
A bardic name is a pseudonym, used in Wales, Cornwall and Brittany, by poets and other artists, especially those involved in the eisteddfod movement....
of Gwylan Gwavas (Seagull of Newlyn). In her later years, she became well known in Cornwall as a presenter for BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
Radio Cornwall where she hosted a popular request show.
In 1994 Wootton's daughter Sue Luscombe published a book of her lyrics, comic-verses, ballads and stories entitled "Pantomime Stew".
In 2010 it was announced that a previously unreleased audio tape had been discovered of a concert given by Wootton in June 1984 at the 'Bobino' theatre/music hall in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
with Camborne Town Band
Camborne Town Band
Camborne Town Band has a contest record from the late 19th century until the present day. It has been a local Championship band since its formation and on the National stage since the 1920s...
and local musicians Ray Roberts, Dave Freeman and the renowned British acoustic guitarist Chris Newman
The Boys of the Lough
-The early years:Their first album, called Boys of the Lough consisted of Aly Bain , Cathal Mc'Connell , Dick Gaughan and Robin Morton ....
.
Subsequently a new cd All of Me was released. The recording is unique as all of the tracks were previously unheard and represents a fitting tribute to Wootton, performing at what was considered to be the peak of her international career. This became possible when the analogue master tapes were discovered by John Knight, her recording engineer, in his studio in Cornwall, which were then digitally mastered and edited for the new album. A sixteen page souvenir booklet is included featuring unpublished photographs, many from Wootton's own private collection.
Recordings
- Piper's Folk, with John the Fish & Piper's Folk, (Private pressing, produced & distributed by Piper's Folk), 1968
- Pasties & Cream, with John the Fish, Sentinel Records, SENS 1006, 1971
- Way Down to Lamorna, Sentinel, SENS 1056, 1972
- Crowdy Crawn, with Richard Gendall, Sentinel, SENS 1016, 1973
- Pamplemousse, with Robert Bartlett, Barclay (French label), 1973
- No Song To Sing, with Robert Bartlett and "guest" Alex Atterson on piano - Sentinel, SENS 1021, 1974
- Tin In The Stream, with Robert Bartlett, Stockfisch (German label), 1974 (voted West Germany's folk album of the year)
- Starry Gazey Pie, with Robert Bartlett, Sentinel, SENS 1031, 1975
- Children Singing, with Richard Gendall, Sentinel, SENS 1036, 1976
- Carillon, Transatlantic RecordsTransatlantic RecordsTransatlantic Records was a British independent record label. It was established in 1961. It started began primarily as an importer of American folk, blues and jazz records - by many of the artists who influenced the burgeoning British folk and blues boom. Within a couple of years, the company had...
, TRA 360, 1979 - Boy Jan ... Cornishman, with David Penhale (voice, guitar and bouzouki) and Richard Gendall (composer), Burlington Records, BURL 005, 1980
- La Grande Cornouaillaise, Burlington Records, BURL 007, 1980
- Gwavas Lake, with The Four Lanes Male ChoirFour LanesFour Lanes is a village in west Cornwall, United Kingdom approximately three miles south of Redruth at in the civil parish of Carn Brea.Pencoys is a smaller settlement which adjoins Four Lanes immediately to the south....
, Burlington Records, BURL 008, 1980 - Lyonesse, with David King (acoustic guitar), RCARCARCA Corporation, founded as the Radio Corporation of America, was an American electronics company in existence from 1919 to 1986. The RCA trademark is currently owned by the French conglomerate Technicolor SA through RCA Trademark Management S.A., a company owned by Technicolor...
, PL 70299, 1982 - My Land, RCA, PL 70234, 1983
- B Comme Brenda, Disc'AZ (French label), AZ 494, 1985
- The Voice of Cornwall, Keltia Music KMCD67, 1996
- All Of Me, with Brenda's Trio and Camborne Town BandCamborne Town BandCamborne Town Band has a contest record from the late 19th century until the present day. It has been a local Championship band since its formation and on the National stage since the 1920s...
Label- Knight Design, Cat. No. KDBWAOM00001 Dec. 2010.