manx celtic music and dance

RESEARCH ARTICLE - LETTERS FROM A.G. GILCHRIST AND P.W. CAINE

29 Feb 2016

A NOTE ON SOME LETTERS FROM A.G. GILCHRIST AND P.W. CAINE (1921-26)

“I daresay you will not have forgotten some little correspondence we had from many years ago [...].” So opens a letter dated 3 October 1921, from A.G. Gilchrist to P.W. Caine. We do not have any of this “little correspondence” to hand; instead, there are now some fourteen letters written later, from the one here in 1921 to the last one from 1926. Two letters date from 1921, one from the next year of 1922, with a break until 1925, when there are nine letters, and then a final two from 1926. These letters are now held in private hands, but as photocopies of the originals, whose whereabouts have yet to be established. The letters from A.G. Gilchrist to P.W. Caine have now been transcribed, but await critical editing. The transcript is a diplomatic one, without footnotes and comments, and should be thought of as a working version.

Anne Geddes Gilchrist (1863–1954), is best-known for her exemplary editing of the Dr John Clague Collection of Manx folk songs that took up three numbers of the Journal of the Folk-Song Society between 1924–26 (Nos 28–30). For further on her, see Stephen Miller, “A.G. Gilchrist (1863–1954): A Resource Guide to Her Manx Activities,” Manx Notes 198 (2015), and “A Checklist of A.G. Gilchrist’s Writings on Manx Folk Music,” Manx Notes 199 (2015). These are reproduced as Manx Notes, Nos 202–06 (2015).  See too, “A.G. Gilchrist (1863–1954): Her Correspondence on Manx Folk Song,” Manx Notes 153 (2013): 1–19. Both this and the Guide clearly need now to be updated.

Philip Whilby Caine (1887–1956), was a member of Sophia Morrison’s circle and a collector in his own right. He was also an enthusiast for carvals and that was what brought him to note for Gilchrist and for which his knowledge was drawn on for her editing of the Clague Collection. For further on him, see Stephen Miller, “‘Taking down music in the dorian mode is not so easy as it looks:’ P.W. Caine (1887–1956) and Manx Folk Song,” Manx Notes 150 (2013), and “‘The Songs of Mannin.’ A Checklist of P.W. Caine’s Writings on Manx Folk Song,” Manx Notes 164 (2013). These are reproduced as Manx Notes, Nos 165–71 (2013).

I was shown these letters last summer (2015) and, as ever, one wonders what else there is still tucked away in the Island. The second letter from Gilchrist in 1921 has a mention that at one time “Miss Sophia Morrison most kindly lent me her MS. of Dr Clague’s collection of tunes.” This remains still to be found—somewhere….

By Stephen Miller, Vienna 2016

READ THE LETTERS

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