Powerful and subtle and richly detailed, this is a book that inhabits its territory, knows its people, and follows its own haunting logic…. A masterpiece' - Jon McGregor, author of Reservoir 13 I only have the autumn edition for that year (1967: XXIX, 3). Evidently the discussion began with an enquiry from a Bill Crumly of Oxford, who had 'collected' an example and wanted more information. Edie was a “an odd child … by the pragmatic, practical standards of the farming families thereabouts”, preferring “the company of books to other children” and given to absent mindedness and interior dialogue sometime spilling over into talking to herself aloud. Her older sister Mary has recently married and lives nearby (Edie struggling with the sudden break in their relationships) as do her mother’s parents (Granfer and her squint eyed and mysterious Grandmother). Edie struggles with her conflicting reactions to the close, sexual attentions paid to her by a slightly older boy – Alfie. What a brilliant and timely novel All Among The Barley is. Deeply evocative of a historical moment - rural England between the wars, before mechanisation - it is also, unmistakably, about questions that press hard on us now, above all the dangers of nationalism, and how easily a love of place can be corrupted into something dark and exclusionary. This is an important book by a writer of great gifts' - Robert Macfarlane

Fourteen-year-old Edie Mather lives with her family at Wych Farm, where the shadow of the Great War still hangs over a community impoverished by the Great Depression. Glamorous outsider Constance FitzAllen arrives from London, determined to make a record of fading rural traditions and beliefs, and to persuade Edie's family to return to the old ways rather than embrace modernity. She brings with her new political and social ideas – some far more dangerous than others. The eternal problem, for authors who write about nature and the British countryside, is how to avoid sounding like Fotherington-Thomas, the parodic schoolboy in Geoffrey Willans’s and Ronald Searle’s immortal Molesworth books who wafts about saying, “Hello clouds, hello sky.” Ever since Wordsworth the trap has been there, partly because where other nations tend to view the natural world with suspicion, British authors can’t help loving our landscape, our flora and fauna and even our weather. The dream of the pastoral is always with us even when we despair at what mankind is doing to the natural world. There are at least 3 broadsides of the song at The Bodleian: (and one does include the instruction to repeat the 1st 4 lines)When I was a child, I believed that what I want mattered so little that it wasn’t even worth me discovering what it might be.”

I've a tape of a nice version from Len and Barbara Berry - 'Down the Greengroves' [Portway Pedlars] A rare traditional set of the song was in the repertoire of the late Walter Pardon of Knapton in Norfolk, and appeared on his posthumous compilation Put a bit of Powder on it, Father... the other songs of Walter Pardon(Musical Traditions MT CD 305-6 ) There are several short bios of Elizabeth Stirling available online. I was particularly interested in the description of the song as prize-winning - I wondered what prize it had won. collected by Alfred Williams from farm hand Henry Sirman of Stanton Harcourt, and printed in the 1923 book Folk-songs of the Upper Thames: with an essay on folk-song activity in the Upper Thames neighbourhood In these uncertain times the appearance of Constance FitzAllen from the heady heights of the capital looking for stories in the rural economy and hoping to capture the old ways before they disappear for good. For all her glamour, FitzAllen brings with her ideas that seem quite innocent at first, yet have deeply sinister and radical roots. As Edie finishes school and has to decide what she does next, the appeal of heading to London grows on her and she hopes that it will take her away from the unwanted attention she is getting from a lad from a nearby farm. Things are coming to a head as FitzAllen starts to push her agenda to the villagers in the pub one night.

Both a commentary on our world and a reminder of where similar sentiments ended before – with fascism across Europe, WW2 and the Holocaust – this is a book which dramatizes both the insidious pull of repellent politics and the extent to which they depend on skewed storytelling and invented mythologies. While Connie tries to idealise a rural England of bread-making, cheerful peasants and pastoral idealism, real farmers like the narrator’s father are struggling with absentee landlords, debts and confusion over whether they want government subsidies and import tariffs, or free trade. Harrison brings 1930s rural England to life stylishly in this story of a teenage girl trying to figure out who she is and what she wants to do with her life. The summer and autumn of 1934 are momentous for Edie Mather as she sheds her innocence and illusions. She’s being courted by Alf Rose, and isn’t sure she likes it; she learns some unpleasant truths about her family; and she looks up to Constance FitzAllen, a career woman from London who arrives in the village to write a column about the old country ways, only to find that the woman isn’t who she thought.

And specific change is bought to the farm and wider community, by a rare outside visitor – Constance, a writer from London keen to capture and celebrate the rural traditions. While Connie may be keen to celebrate tradition, those around Edie are aware of the need for adaption and for balancing progress against tradition.

Meta

For Edie, who has just finished school and must soon decide what to do with her life, Connie appears to be a godsend. But there is more to the older woman than meets the eye. As harvest time approaches and the pressures mount on the entire Mather family, Edie must decide whose version of reality to trust, and how best to save herself from disaster. Edie is caught in this maelstrom of social and political activity whilst still trying to make the transition herself from child to young woman and she comments as a narrator of the story as an elderly woman at the end of the book. An incredible evocation of one particular corner of rural England in the 1930s ... with this novel she's done what I've long suspected she would: she's written a masterpiece (Jon McGregor, author of 'Reservoir 13')

That's a summary of most of what I have. Over the next few days, I'll put in the proper references to all the versions of the song and I'll put in the relevant quotes from the texts referring to the song with their references and I'll try to post the texts and tunes for comparison. However, Connie isn’t all that she appears. Along with her interest in traditional farming methods, folklore, and country traditions she brings new ideas and some dangerous politics. As the novel progresses Connie’s view of outsiders start to emerge, antisemitism and a passionate belief in the preservation of traditional ways.

If you look at the origins thread I linked above (21 Oct 11 - 09:50 AM ), you'll see that the old printed versions give wheaten. In rural Suffolk in the 1930's the effects of the Great War still loomed over those working the land. There was some change in the air though, modernisation was slowly happening despite the global Great Depression. For everything that was moving on, there was as much standing still too. At Wych Farm, they farm the land in the old way and everyone, including the fourteen-year-old Edie Mather, is still expected to help with the harvest. These messages are delivered by looking at Edie, her family and the two trusted and longtime employed workmen living at Wych farm. Edie is young, confused and lonely. She feels as an outsider, even at home. She needs a friend, someone to whom she can confide. When the glamorous, charismatic and outspoken Constance FitzAllen arrives from London, interested in documenting and promoting traditional customs, folklore and ways, the two form a bond. Each affords the other what they need, but one is young and naïve. And the elder? We learn by the end of the novel that the outspoken and friendly Constance hides secrets. Neither is she the only one with secrets. Edie’s family too is riddled with secrets.