Curators Choice – North Lincolnshire Folk Songs

In the collection can be found a promotional leaflet from 1908 advertising gramophone records of traditional English folk songs. The folk songs are sung by Mr Joseph Taylor, whose photograph appears on the cover, and were collected by the Australian composer Percy Grainger.

This leaflet marks a significant moment in folk music history—the first commercial recording of an English folk singer. The story that led to this recording is fascinating, highlighting North Lincolnshire’s central role in the early 20th-century folk song revival. It also involves the remarkable journey of one local singer whose professional success began with a musical competition in Brigg. That singer was farm bailiff Joseph Taylor, from Saxby-All-Saints.

In April 1905, Taylor competed in the annual North Lincolnshire Musical Competition, performing at Brigg Corn Exchange. He entered the folk song category, performing Creeping Jane, a song about a racehorse. He won first place, earning ten shillings and six pence. In the audience was Percy Grainger, an emerging composer who was captivated by Taylor’s singing. For Grainger, this visit to Brigg marked the beginning of an ambitious folk song-collecting project. Grainger’s arrangements of North Lincolnshire folk songs would later receive international acclaim.

In this video, Dynamic Collections Project Officer, Jenny Kirton, takes a closer look at the history of folk songs in North Lincolnshire.