Episodios

  • S4 1 I Can't Stop!
    Jan 28 2026

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    Welcome to this first episode in the fourth series of The Parson and the Songmen!

    We kick the series off in fine style by meeting Cornwall-based singer/songwriter Chris Hytch and hearing some of the songs from his band Annown's CD 'A Half A Face'.

    Chris has a passion for Cornish folklore and history and has the uncanny knack of being able to take an old, old story, give it some extra twists and turns, maybe add a bit of humour, and end up with a fresh-sounding, clever, modern song.

    In fact, such is Chris's appetite to seek out new folklore or history and turn them into fresh songs that he will openly admit... "I can't stop!"

    Intrigued? Well listen on.

    https://www.facebook.com/chris.hytch/?locale=en_GB

    https://www.annown.co.uk/

    https://annown.bandcamp.com/

    Support the show

    PLEASE VISIT mikebosworth.uk FOR ALL LINKS TO INTERVIEWEES ETC

    Mike's website: mikebosworth.uk

    https://www.facebook.com/people/The-Parson-and-the-Songmen/100093220748945/

    Mike's YouTube page:
    https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=thimblerigg+videos

    Sabine Baring-Gould Centenary Celebration Group: https://www.sbgcentenary.co.uk/

    Simon Mayor: mandolin.co.uk

    Mike O'Connor: http://www.lyngham.co.uk/

    Barbara Griggs: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Children-Arganteilin-Harp-Cornwall/dp/0954106857

    Pete Coe: https://petecoe.co.uk/

    Castle Heritage Centre, Bude: https://www.thecastlebude.co.uk/

    Devon Association of Ringers: https://www.devonbells.co.uk/

    Wren Music: https://www.wrenmusic.co.uk/

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    43 m
  • S3 15 Songs from Series Three
    Jan 7 2026

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    A Happy New Year to you and welcome to this third compilation of songs (and tunes) from the shows!

    We have a varied selection for you, some reminding you of spring, the festive season and, as always, a fair dollop of the Reverend Sabine Baring Gould.

    Here is the track listing, or click on CHAPTERS (above) if you want to go to an individual track.

    1. The Jolly Wagoner - Mike Bosworth
    2. Black Joke (tune) - Colin Thomsett
    3. Jim the Carter Lad - Sophie Legg
    4. The Gypsy - Mike Bosworth with Rowan Tidball
    5. Parsons Lea - Kate and Jon Tidball
    6. All Round My Hat - Mike Bosworth
    7. My Jolly Wagoner Drive On - Bob and Gill Berry
    8. Twas On One April Morning - Mike Bosworth and the Dawn Chorus
    9. Hewlett - Simon Mayor
    10. Last of the Singers - Mike Bosworth
    11. Ashwater Bell Ringing (alternative version) - Marilyn Tucker and Paul Wilson
    12. Sans Day Carol (tune) - Kate and Jon Tidball
    13. Can't Keep His Wife At Home - Mike Bosworth with Colin Thomsett

    Support the show

    PLEASE VISIT mikebosworth.uk FOR ALL LINKS TO INTERVIEWEES ETC

    Mike's website: mikebosworth.uk

    https://www.facebook.com/people/The-Parson-and-the-Songmen/100093220748945/

    Mike's YouTube page:
    https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=thimblerigg+videos

    Sabine Baring-Gould Centenary Celebration Group: https://www.sbgcentenary.co.uk/

    Simon Mayor: mandolin.co.uk

    Mike O'Connor: http://www.lyngham.co.uk/

    Barbara Griggs: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Children-Arganteilin-Harp-Cornwall/dp/0954106857

    Pete Coe: https://petecoe.co.uk/

    Castle Heritage Centre, Bude: https://www.thecastlebude.co.uk/

    Devon Association of Ringers: https://www.devonbells.co.uk/

    Wren Music: https://www.wrenmusic.co.uk/

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    32 m
  • S3 14 Return of the Return Of The Bumper Festive Edition
    Dec 24 2025

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    Season's Greetings One And All!

    Welcome to the festive sixtieth edition of The Parson and the Songmen!

    In this episode we tell the story of a special carol service that takes place every year in the Stratton/Bude area of North Cornwall to keep alive a very special set of carols peculiar to the area.

    Mike and Jon recorded this year's service so expect some carols that you will most likely be very unfamiliar to you, and to that end here are the words for the carols included in the podcast.

    Morwenna Carol

    God from on high hath heard, let sighs and sorrows cease,

    Lo from the open heaven descends to man the promised peace,

    To man the promised peace.

    Lo from the open heaven descends to man the promised peace,

    To man the promised peace, the promised peace.


    Hark! Through the silent night angelic voices swell,

    Their joyful songs proclaim that God is born on earth to dwell,

    Is born on earth to dwell,

    Their joyful songs proclaim that God is born on earth to dwell,

    Is born on earth to dwell, on earth to dwell…

    Let Christians All With One Accord Rejoice

    Let Christians all with one accord r ejoice, and praises sing with heart as well as voice,

    To God on high, who wonderous things have done,

    In sending us, in sending us, in sending us, in sending us his well beloved son.

    That blessed babe and holy child of love, came down from heaven that we might reign above,

    The joyful news was brought on angels’ wings,

    Of our redemption, our redemption, our redemption, our redemption by the King of Kings.

    Three wise men by a star were hither brought, and found the blessed babe they long had sought…

    O Come, O come Emmanuel

    A deus, A deus, Emmanuel,

    Daspren an prisner Ysrael,

    Divres, hirethek, trist, a vyw,

    Hirneth ow kortos dos Mab Dyw.

    Omlowenha, Emmanuel

    A dheu dhis skon, A Ysrael…

    Support the show

    PLEASE VISIT mikebosworth.uk FOR ALL LINKS TO INTERVIEWEES ETC

    Mike's website: mikebosworth.uk

    https://www.facebook.com/people/The-Parson-and-the-Songmen/100093220748945/

    Mike's YouTube page:
    https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=thimblerigg+videos

    Sabine Baring-Gould Centenary Celebration Group: https://www.sbgcentenary.co.uk/

    Simon Mayor: mandolin.co.uk

    Mike O'Connor: http://www.lyngham.co.uk/

    Barbara Griggs: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Children-Arganteilin-Harp-Cornwall/dp/0954106857

    Pete Coe: https://petecoe.co.uk/

    Castle Heritage Centre, Bude: https://www.thecastlebude.co.uk/

    Devon Association of Ringers: https://www.devonbells.co.uk/

    Wren Music: https://www.wrenmusic.co.uk/

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    25 m
  • S3 13 As Is The Custom
    Dec 11 2025

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    If you do celebrate, you may well have noticed that Yuletide is nearly upon us... But, if you did need reminding, then this episode of The Parson and the Songmen will do just that for you!

    There are plenty of Christmas and Winter Solstice customs and traditions out there, but this edition will hopefully open your eyes and ears to some that are (almost) peculiar to Devon and Cornwall, and may even help to explain the origins of some traditions that we take for granted today.


    Support the show

    PLEASE VISIT mikebosworth.uk FOR ALL LINKS TO INTERVIEWEES ETC

    Mike's website: mikebosworth.uk

    https://www.facebook.com/people/The-Parson-and-the-Songmen/100093220748945/

    Mike's YouTube page:
    https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=thimblerigg+videos

    Sabine Baring-Gould Centenary Celebration Group: https://www.sbgcentenary.co.uk/

    Simon Mayor: mandolin.co.uk

    Mike O'Connor: http://www.lyngham.co.uk/

    Barbara Griggs: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Children-Arganteilin-Harp-Cornwall/dp/0954106857

    Pete Coe: https://petecoe.co.uk/

    Castle Heritage Centre, Bude: https://www.thecastlebude.co.uk/

    Devon Association of Ringers: https://www.devonbells.co.uk/

    Wren Music: https://www.wrenmusic.co.uk/

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    17 m
  • S3 12 I Want To Ride My Bicycle...
    Nov 26 2025

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    Welcome to Series Three, Episode Twelve. All we will say about this episode is that it involves some early Twentieth Century song collecting, a very enigmatic song collector and two wheeled transport. Listen on...

    (By the way, and still trying to be all secretive, if this episode does tickle your taste- buds and you want to find out more then please visit https://bobandgillberry.com)

    Support the show

    PLEASE VISIT mikebosworth.uk FOR ALL LINKS TO INTERVIEWEES ETC

    Mike's website: mikebosworth.uk

    https://www.facebook.com/people/The-Parson-and-the-Songmen/100093220748945/

    Mike's YouTube page:
    https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=thimblerigg+videos

    Sabine Baring-Gould Centenary Celebration Group: https://www.sbgcentenary.co.uk/

    Simon Mayor: mandolin.co.uk

    Mike O'Connor: http://www.lyngham.co.uk/

    Barbara Griggs: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Children-Arganteilin-Harp-Cornwall/dp/0954106857

    Pete Coe: https://petecoe.co.uk/

    Castle Heritage Centre, Bude: https://www.thecastlebude.co.uk/

    Devon Association of Ringers: https://www.devonbells.co.uk/

    Wren Music: https://www.wrenmusic.co.uk/

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    25 m
  • S3 11 Songs Of War
    Nov 12 2025

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    At this time in November we remember the sacrifice that hundreds of thousands of British soldiers made with their lives as they fought in the First World War (and remember that millions died overall). Many songs are associated with this war, but are there songs connected to earlier battles? The simple answer is "Yes" and in this episode Mike collects together some of those found in the Baring Gould Song Collection.

    Support the show

    PLEASE VISIT mikebosworth.uk FOR ALL LINKS TO INTERVIEWEES ETC

    Mike's website: mikebosworth.uk

    https://www.facebook.com/people/The-Parson-and-the-Songmen/100093220748945/

    Mike's YouTube page:
    https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=thimblerigg+videos

    Sabine Baring-Gould Centenary Celebration Group: https://www.sbgcentenary.co.uk/

    Simon Mayor: mandolin.co.uk

    Mike O'Connor: http://www.lyngham.co.uk/

    Barbara Griggs: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Children-Arganteilin-Harp-Cornwall/dp/0954106857

    Pete Coe: https://petecoe.co.uk/

    Castle Heritage Centre, Bude: https://www.thecastlebude.co.uk/

    Devon Association of Ringers: https://www.devonbells.co.uk/

    Wren Music: https://www.wrenmusic.co.uk/

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    16 m
  • S3 10 One Day In October
    Oct 21 2025

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    In this episode of The Parson and the Songmen we join Mike at Ashwater Church, in the far west of Devon, for a day of 'ringing and singing'.

    One Day In October are the first four words of a very special song that the Reverend Sabine Baring-Gould collected, telling of a bell ringing competition that took place at Ashwater church some two hundred years ago.

    For the last two years this event has been remembered in the form of a day centred around bell ringing, organised by Jon Bint, Vice-Chair of the Devon Association of Ringers and Marilyn Tucker from Devon-Based Wren Music.

    Support the show

    PLEASE VISIT mikebosworth.uk FOR ALL LINKS TO INTERVIEWEES ETC

    Mike's website: mikebosworth.uk

    https://www.facebook.com/people/The-Parson-and-the-Songmen/100093220748945/

    Mike's YouTube page:
    https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=thimblerigg+videos

    Sabine Baring-Gould Centenary Celebration Group: https://www.sbgcentenary.co.uk/

    Simon Mayor: mandolin.co.uk

    Mike O'Connor: http://www.lyngham.co.uk/

    Barbara Griggs: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Children-Arganteilin-Harp-Cornwall/dp/0954106857

    Pete Coe: https://petecoe.co.uk/

    Castle Heritage Centre, Bude: https://www.thecastlebude.co.uk/

    Devon Association of Ringers: https://www.devonbells.co.uk/

    Wren Music: https://www.wrenmusic.co.uk/

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    16 m
  • S3 9 Harvest Home
    Oct 7 2025

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    The poet John Keats called Autumn the 'season of mists and mellow fruitfulness'. A time for reflection and also a time when 'all is safely gathered in' before the onset of winter.

    Those words, of course, come from the harvest hymn We Plough The Fields And Scatter, and in this episode of The Parson And The Songmen we discover the origins of what we know as The Harvest Festival church service and find out more about the man behind its creation - Robert Stephen Hawker, the Vicar of Morwenstow in North Cornwall. Hawker was known to The Reverend Sabine Baring-Gould who saw something of himself in this larger than life, multi-talented, eccentric figure.

    So, let's join Mike, in conversation with local historian and Hawker enthusiast, Matt Thomas, Outreach Officer at the Castle Heritage Centre, Bude.


    Support the show

    PLEASE VISIT mikebosworth.uk FOR ALL LINKS TO INTERVIEWEES ETC

    Mike's website: mikebosworth.uk

    https://www.facebook.com/people/The-Parson-and-the-Songmen/100093220748945/

    Mike's YouTube page:
    https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=thimblerigg+videos

    Sabine Baring-Gould Centenary Celebration Group: https://www.sbgcentenary.co.uk/

    Simon Mayor: mandolin.co.uk

    Mike O'Connor: http://www.lyngham.co.uk/

    Barbara Griggs: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Children-Arganteilin-Harp-Cornwall/dp/0954106857

    Pete Coe: https://petecoe.co.uk/

    Castle Heritage Centre, Bude: https://www.thecastlebude.co.uk/

    Devon Association of Ringers: https://www.devonbells.co.uk/

    Wren Music: https://www.wrenmusic.co.uk/

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    24 m