There’s A Nice Field Of Turnips Over There
There’s A Nice Field Of Turnips Over There
A folk song chosen for the Seven Songs of Harvest pack, complete with notation and teaching notes for Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 written and arranged by Bob Kenward.
Harvest has long been celebrated in song across the world – and still is. It is an occasion for celebration across the world. Wherever people settled, the routine of preparing the ground, sowing, tending, gathering and storing crops was a matter of life or death. Communities have traditionally produced enough food for themselves, and as technology and society has developed, gradually farming has become commercial. Food and crops are produced for sale to others rather than simply to feed local communities.
There are many songs relevant to the Harvest theme within the English folk tradition. This pack uses appropriate songs and illustrative woodcuts (found on various broadsides) within The Full English digital archive. The songs are:
- There’s A Nice Field Of Turnips Over There
- The Farmer’s Boy
- Oats And Beans And Barley
- The Green Grass
- John Barleycorn
- The Hundred Haymakers
- Jim The Carter Lad
Bob Kenward
Alongside a career in Primary Education, Bob has maintained a lifetime interest in English traditional music. He has developed folk song within the changing curriculum over many years, always emphasizing the pleasure of singing for its own sake. Bob is a singer and a songwriter, resident of the Tonbridge Folk Club and runs the popular Woodshed session during Broadstairs Folk Week
Bob’s Teaching Notes for the Sing London national Singing Histories project are still available free online. These offer justification and a topic web for teachers interested in persuading school managers and parents that English traditional music forms a vital part of a balanced multicultural education.
Bob sees The Full English as an important step forward in bringing the melodies and lyrics of our shared heritage to fresh voices and new generations.
Ben Moss and Laurel Swift
Ben and Laurel have recorded all the songs for this pack. The audio recordings are freely available for download from the audio tab at the top of this panel.
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