Girls of the Hamlet Club - Elsie Oxanham

I'd wanted to read this book for a long time, as Elsie Oxenham's books are a useful source of knowledge about the early folk revival.

It's a very slow burner, but overall I enjoyed it.  Oxenham's books have a moral element to them as well as the 'schoolgirl' story and the folk dance connections.  I find this aspect of the stories tends to work for me. Difficult decisions are presented as being genuinely difficult - in this case Cecily has to choose between remaining with her friends at her current school, or moving to a totally new place in order to be close to aging grandparents who have never wanted to know her in the past.

The story is set in Wiltshire and much of the early story is spent introducing us to the Wiltshire countryside, the villages and hamlets, the woodlands and views.   We also meet some of the characters who Cecily will get to know better later on.

The folk dance aspect comes into play once Cecily starts at her new school and finds it to be very much split into two social groups, the better off pupils, and the girls from the hamlets.  There's some strong discrimination against the 'Hamlet' girls who are very much looked down on.

Although from the better off demographic, Cecily had already made friends with some of the hamlet girls before the term started, so she sets herself the task of doing something for them.  Unable to join most of the school clubs because of the membership cost, they are soon drawn into the folk dance club that she founds for them.

The dance part of the novel is really interesting from a folk history angle.  Here, back in 1914, when general belief is that there weren't any women dancing morris, we see that there definitely were.  It's lovely to see familiar Cotswold morris dances in this context.  There is also a may queen ceremony, which is probably based on the 'Whitelands' model.  ('Whitelands' was a teacher training college, which still has an annual May Queen/King)

All in all, I enjoyed it, and not just for the folk dance. But don't expect any action for the first half of the novel, and remember that 'drive' does not necessarily mean in a car at this period in history!

This novel is out of copyright and can be downloaded for free from https://www.fadedpage.com/

 

 

 

The Abbey Girls - Elsie Oxenham

 This novel is a love affair with English folk dance and a Cistercian abbey.

The abbey of the title is based on Cleeve Abbey in Somerset - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cleeve_Abbey and the writer's love of the abbey and her knowledge of the architecture shines through.

Joan and her cousin Joy live in the abbey where Joan's mother has a job guiding tourists who come to visit.  They moved there after Joan's father died and they found themselves in much reduced circumstances.  It's worth noting that in the period the book is set, the leaving age for state education was 14 (and would have been 12 at the time of the first book in the series). Not being able to afford education after that age is a genuine problem for these characters.

 

Plenty of dancing in this book, my favourite is a lovely scene of Joan and Joy dancing together in the cloister garth. (the grass area that the cloisters surround).

There is a plot, but fortunately it's pretty light.  

I enjoyed this book for the details of the abbey, the dancing and the likeable characters.  It's a gentle read, and none the worse for that.

 

There's a difficult decision for Joan - and, in keeping with this series, it is shown as being difficult.  She knows the choice she has to make, and is determined to make it, but that doesn't stop it hurting.

 

This is definitely one of the better books in the 'Abbey' series.