179:. She copied down the dance steps to accompany the recording and on the same trip, introduced Sharp to local fiddlers John Lock and William Preece, who were also recorded by the duo. Sharp found using the new technology to record folk tunes impracticable, but Leather is thought to have recorded close to thirty songs on multiple cylinders between 1907 and 1913 and possibly a dozen more.
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Leather died suddenly from a heart attack on 7 June 1928 and was buried at the
Weobley Cemetery. She is remembered for her collaborations with Sharp and Williams, but also for her original work in collecting folk songs and dances from Herefordshire. "Leather made more phonograph recordings than any
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volunteers stationed at
Sarnesfield Court Hospital. For the duration of the war, she invested her time to war activities. Her son, John Francis, died in France in 1918. When the war ended, much of her time was devoted to other endeavors. She was a sought-after speaker for antiquarian societies and
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published in 1912, has been recognized as authoritative and was reprinted numerous times through 1990. It contained lyrics and music notations for 23 ballads, carols, and songs and was fully referenced with extensive notes on sources and people who were consulted on the materials. That year, she
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When
Leather first became interested in collecting folklore is unknown, but by 1904 her private journals indicate that she had already compiled networks of collaborators with whom she was working to gather folk songs of the area. A local author, Reverend Compton Reade asked her to contribute a
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published in that year. In 1905, she joined both the Folk-Lore and the Folk-Song
Societies. As her skill with music was rudimentary, she had difficulty providing transcriptions of tunes until 1906, when she was put in contact with composer
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in the first
National Festival of Folk Dance. Intent on saving Weobley's old grammar school, she purchased the 17th-century building, using it as a private study. She also published a guide to the parish church and began work on the
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which had the ability to record and reproduce sound. By 1907, her reputation as an authority on folk lore was firmly established, when she published a selection of folk tales in the inaugural issue of
211:, which was based on material she had collected between 1908 and 1912. That same year she was a co-founder of the Herefordshire chapter of the English Folk Dance Society.
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of the other collectors associated with the Folk-Song
Society," though songs that she discovered often were credited to her collaborators. Her papers are housed in the
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126:, England to Mary Ann (née Griffiths) and James Smith, a farmer. After attending Clyde House School, she completed her schooling at
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encampments and he collected the song, "The
Unquiet Grave" from tenor Alfred Price Jones. The two would collaborate in 1920 on
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published in 1912, has been recognized as an authoritative "model of scientific scholarship." Amongst her other works are
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King, Andrew (2010). "Resources in the
Vaughan Williams Memorial Library: The Ella Mary Leather Manuscript Collection".
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In 1926, Leather published "The Timber Houses of
Weobley" in the Woolhope Naturalists Club's journal
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recordings. One of his recordings occurred in
December 1909, when Leather took him to see
94:(26 March 1874 – 7 June 1928) was a British collector of the local folklore and songs of
130:. Smith married a soliciter, Francis Leather, in 1893 and the two moved to the town of
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In 1913, Leather put aside her collecting and began working as the Commandant of the
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Ella Mary Smith was born 26 March 1874 in the hamlet of Bidney, in Dilwyn parish,
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463:(5). London: English Folk Dance and Song Society: 749–812.
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Collecting Folk-Melodies from Gypsies in Herefordshire
514:"Leather [née Smith], Ella Mary (1874–1928)"
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143:chapter, "The Folk-Lore of the Shire" to his book
484:Manning, David (2007). Manning, David (ed.).
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193:Twelve Traditional Carols from Herefordshire
104:Twelve Traditional Carols from Herefordshire
55:United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
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494:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195182392.001.0001
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520:Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
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16:English collector of folklore and songs
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488:. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
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145:Memorials of Old Herefordshire
128:Hereford High School for Girls
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586:Female nurses in World War I
548:UK public library membership
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100:Folklore of Herefordshire,
611:People from Herefordshire
581:British women folklorists
486:Vaughan Williams on Music
184:Folklore of Herefordshire
37:Ella Mary Leather in 1918
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207:. In 1925 she published
182:Leather's seminal work,
525:Oxford University Press
106:, a collaboration with
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158:Herefordshire Magazine
150:Ralph Vaughan Williams
108:Ralph Vaughan Williams
596:British women nurses
163:Leather worked with
112:The Folklore Society
98:. Her seminal work,
601:Red Cross personnel
576:English folklorists
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591:World War I nurses
456:Folk Music Journal
225:History of Weobley
546:(Subscription or
503:978-0-195-18239-2
220:Royal Albert Hall
205:Women's Institute
175:on Boxing day in
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67:(1928-06-07)
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571:1928 deaths
566:1874 births
538:28 February
240:of London.
165:Cecil Sharp
74:Nationality
65:7 June 1928
560:Categories
550:required.)
244:References
167:in making
154:phonograph
118:Early life
85:Folklorist
82:Occupation
469:0531-9684
437:King 2010
425:King 2010
410:King 2010
398:King 2010
374:King 2010
362:King 2010
350:King 2010
338:King 2010
326:King 2010
314:King 2010
302:King 2010
261:King 2010
249:Citations
200:Red Cross
189:traveller
177:Brimfield
477:25654210
49:Bidney,
132:Weobley
77:British
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138:Career
51:Dilwyn
473:JSTOR
540:2020
498:ISBN
465:ISSN
62:Died
43:Born
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