Roy Ernest Palmer (10 February 1932 – 26 February 2015) ^[1] was a singer, teacher, folklorist, author and historian who wrote more than 30 books on folklore and folk song. In 2003 ^[2] he was awarded the Gold Badge, the English Folk Dance and Song Society's highest honour.

He had much experience of performing to an audience, setting him apart from better known folk song scholars and anthologists who collected material but were less concerned with singing it.

Life

Born in 1932, Roy Palmer was educated at the Grammar School, Coalville, and at Manchester University. While at college he met Harry Boardman, a folk singer whose left-wing views he shared throughout his life. ^[1] He taught for many years in grammar and comprehensive schools around the Midlands and was headmaster of the Dame Elizabeth Cadbury School in Birmingham for eleven years. ^[3]

In the 1960s he began recording and publishing traditional folk songs. A collection of his recordings are in the British Library ^[4] and other materials are archived at the Library of Birmingham. ^[5]

He met the BBC producer Charles Parker whilst organising informal folk song evenings for CND in Birmingham during the 1960s. The two men joined with other local enthusiasts to establish the Birmingham and Midland Folk Centre in order to sing folk songs, appraise each other's singing, collect and research songs and produce documentary dramas. ^[1]

He took early retirement, making time to explore his deep passion in all aspects of folk culture - its lore, dialect, crafts, arts, plays and above all, its songs and music. From 1970 to 2007 he produced a steady stream of books, articles and reviews, exploring social history through the medium of folk song and street ballads. ^[4]

In 2003 was awarded a gold badge, the highest honour bestowed by the English Folk Dance and Song Society, ^[1] and in 2004 he received an honorary MA from the Open University. ^[1]

He was a long-standing member of The Folklore Society, chairman of the 'Friends of the Dymock Poets' for seven years and on the editorial board of Folk Music Journal for 20 years. ^[3]

Bibliography

• Room for Company, Cambridge University Press, 1971: ISBN  0521081742
• Love is Pleasing, Cambridge University Press, 1974: ISBN  0521 204453
• Songs of the Midlands, EP Publishing, 1972: OCLC  48869635
• Rigs of the Fair (Roy Palmer and Jon Raven), Cambridge University Press, 1976; ISBN  0521 209080
• Folk Music in School (Robert Leach and Roy Palmer), Cambridge University Press, 1978; ISBN  0521215951
• Feasts and Seasons - Spring (Anthony Adams, Robert Leach, Roy Palmer), Blackie, 1978; ISBN  0216 903971
• Feasts and Seasons - Summer (Anthony Adams, Robert Leach, Roy Palmer), Blackie, 1978; ISBN  0216 90398X
• Feasts and Seasons - Autumn (Anthony Adams, Robert Leach, Roy Palmer), Blackie, 1977; ISBN  0216 902630
• Feasts and Seasons - Winter (Anthony Adams, Robert Leach, Roy Palmer), Blackie, 1977: ISBN  0216 903548
• Rose Shamrock Thistle Leek (Bryan Lester and Roy Palmer), Ricordi, 1989
• The Folklore of Shropshire, Logaston Press, 2004; ISBN  19043 9616X
• Britain's Living Folklore, David & Charles, 1991; ISBN  07153 93847
• Folklore of Gloucestershire, Westcountry Books, 1994; ISBN  18983 86072
• Folklore of Leicestershire and Rutland, Wymondham: Sycamore Press, 1985 ISBN  0-905837-22-3
• --do.-- Stroud: Tempus Publishing, 2002: ISBN  07524 24688
• Folklore of (old) Monmouthshire, Logaston Press, 1998: ISBN  1873827 407
• Folklore of Hereford and Worcester, Logaston Press, 1992: ISBN  1873 827024
• Folklore of the Black Country, Logaston Press, 2007; ISBN  9781 904396840
• Folklore of Radnorshire, Logaston Press, 2001: ISBN  1873827172
• Folklore of Shropshire, Logaston Press, 2004: ISBN  1904 39616X
• Folklore of Warwickshire, Stroud: Tempus, 2004 (First published Batsford 1976); ISBN  07524 33598
• Folklore of Worcestershire, Logaston Press, 2005; ISBN  1904 396402
• Herefordshire Folklore, Logaston Press, 2002: ISBN  1873 82758X
• The Sound Of History, Oxford University Press, 1988; ISBN  07126 73164
• A Ballad History Of England, Batsford, 1979; ISBN  07134 09681
• Strike The Bell: transport by road, canal, rail and sea in the nineteenth century through songs, ballads and contemporary accounts, Cambridge University Press, 1978; ISBN  9780521219211
• The Valiant Sailor, Cambridge University Press, 1973: ISBN  9780521201018
• The Oxford Book of Sea Songs, Oxford University Press, 1986: ISBN  019 2141597
• Boxing the Compass Sea Songs and Shanties, Heron Publishing, 2001: ISBN  0954 068203
• A Touch on the Times, Penguin, 1974; ISBN  01408 11826
• Poverty Knock, Cambridge University Press, 1974; ISBN  05212 04437
• The Painful Plough, Cambridge University Press, 1972; ISBN  05210 85128
• The Rambling Soldier, Penguin Books, 1977: ISBN  9780140471038
• Everyman's Book of British Ballads, London: JM Dent and Sons, 1980: ISBN  9780460044523
• Everyman's Book of English Country Songs, London: JM Dent and Sons, 1979: ISBN  0460 120484
• Folk Songs collected by Ralph Vaughan Williams, London: JM Dent and Sons, 1983; ISBN  0460 04558X
• Secret River (Roy and Pat Palmer), Green Branch Press, 1998; ISBN  0952 603128
• Let us be Merry (Gwilym Davies and Roy Palmer), Green Branch, 1996: ISBN  0952 60311X
• A Taste of Ale, Green Branch, 2000: ISBN  0952 603160
• What A Lovely War - British Soldiers Songs, London: Michael Joseph, 1990; ISBN  07181 33579
• Ripest Apples, The Big Apple Association, 1996: ISBN  0952 910004
• Working Songs, Herron Publishing, 2010: ISBN  978 095 4068257

References