Traditional Tales and Folk Song

It's my birthday so please can I have an incoherent rant?

 I hope that, if you've visited my blog before, you've picked up that I love music and illustrated children's books. Today I received a CD by Anda Union from Mongolia called "The Wind Horse". If you've never heard Mongolian music before you might find it hard going but I've lived with it for a number of years and absolutely love it .... and what it stands for ..... a celebration of a culture that's evolved over hundreds of years. Last week I picked up a copy of "uprooting" by Warsaw Village Band. It is in a similar vein.





Last Friday night, my wife and I went to see Martin Carthy & Dave Swarbrick at Middlesbrough Town Hall. It was in a similar vein. Martin seemed to want to involve us in the evolution of the material, its sources and influences.




There are hundreds of illustrated versions of the traditional tales of Europe (Hans Christian Andersen, Brothers Grimm, Perrault, Lang) but how much of the heritage of the British isles is taught in our schools? I've never been a primary teacher so really don't know.

Now this is where I become difficult to follow. I'm not nationalistic. I don't consider myself English, British, European or any other such group. I did use to tell all and sundry that at heart I was an African!

Some of the most moving stories in our heritage appear in song and are rarely used with children. Admittedly, the tales of murder and incest would not go down too well in primary schools but, come on, let's celebrate our heritage properly. There are hundreds of songs, so why not use some of them. I know I'm wanting to get more music into schools but there is also the bardic story-telling tradition. There are some amazing story-tellers out there. I've only come across a few because I've spent most of my life immersed in Science but I'll mention two, Robin Williamson and Hugh Lupton. 
What other aspects of our heritage could we highlight? A different sort of Christmas? A re-assessment of the rites of spring?

My scientific background makes me want to come to a conclusion but there isn't one, there's just the suggestion that maybe we need to look more closely at our priorities for a future that is both incredibly exciting and also increasingly frightening.

If you got here, well done.