Cecil Sharp (22 November 1859 - 23 June 1924) was the founding father of the folklore revival in England in the early 20th century, and many of England's traditional dances and music owe their continuing existence to his work in recording and publishing them. This pipe was given to Eric Foxley by Cecil Sharp's daughter Joan (who was secretary of the English Folk Dance Society in the 1930s). It was made as a special order by Dolmetsch (the firm is still going strong), probably in the early 1920s. Sharp died on 23rd June 1924. A number of years after I had been given the pipe, I took it to the Dolmetsch workshop at Hazelmere, Surrey in the 1970s. I was taken to the "old man" Carl Dolmetsch, who took one look at the pipe and before I could open my mouth said immediately "I remember that pipe, I made a set of six of them, for a Mr Sharp I think it was". I wonder where the other five are!





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