The Ivy Green is a creative project from Swindon-based folk singers and musicians Chantelle Smith and Jessie Thompson. By recording and performing the songs collected by Swindon's own folk song collector, Alfred Williams, we hope to reconnect the songs with the individuals who sang them and the communities and landscapes in which they were collected. Check out our field recordings below and don’t forget to follow us on social media!

The Female Robber. Collected by Alfred Williams as sung by Edmund Jefferies.

The Green Bushes. Collected by Alfred Williams as sung by Elijah Iles.

Bold Sir Rylas. Collected by Alfred Williams as sung by Daniel Morgan

The Lowlands of Holland. Collected by Alfred WIlliams as sung by David Sawyer.

The Jolly Shilling. Collected by Alfred WIlliams as sung by Elijah Iles.

The Thames Head Wassail. Collected by Alfred Williams as sung by Henry 'Wassail' Harvey.

The Ivy Green. Poem by Charles Dickens. Tune by Jessie Thompson

Death and The Maid. Collected by Alfred Williams as sung by Henry 'Wassail' Harvey.

Needle Cases. Collected by Alfred Williams as sung by Eli Dawes of Southrop, Gloucestershire.

The Ripe and Bearded Barley. Collected by Alfred Williams, as performed by Henry Sirman of Stanton Harcourt, Oxfordshire. Contemporary tune by Mike Gabriel of Cheltenham.