Mick Tems of Taplas

reviews The Whitchurch Hornpipe by Neil Brookes and Tony Weatherall

I HAVE great regard and respect for anything produced in the Wild Goose catalogue: it seems to me that recording guru Doug Bailey always turns up trumps. Wild Goose is very busy turning itself into an English sound library and The Whitchurch Hornpipe is a selection of 1801 - 1837 melodies taken from five handwritten books, compiled by the family of Richard Hughes of Ash and John Clews of Stoke Heath, both in Shropshire.

I was half?expecting a dry and dusty list of tunes, but Morris musician Neil (fiddle and flute) and Tony (melodeon and one of The Boat Band) have injected a vital spark that catches alight and comes alive. Both love the music, which is a part of borders heritage. The nimble squeezebox is a joy; relentlessly pushing back the boundaries. Interesting titles include The Old Man Killed with a Cough, La Belle Jeanette and The Flock's in a Cluster. Good work.