Another very successful year – and I think we can quietly congratulate ourselves on doing more than our bit at keeping the flag of traditional song research flying.
In 2022 we mounted 15 online meetings, with over 40 presentations on an astonishing range of topics, and these are all available on our YouTube channel, which has had 3,358 views this year (8,617 in total since we started it in 2020).
On the conference front we have organised our regular Broadside Day in February, the two-day As I Roved Out conference in Limerick in June, and a Broadside Extra in Dublin in October and we have also actively supported events put on by other organisations.
We have also supported publications by our sister organisation The Ballad Partners – in particular the Thirsty Work and Other Legacies of Folk Song volume, which included written-up versions of twelve of our online presentations.
Our newsletter helps to keep members informed about forthcoming events, new books, websites, and so on, and the Tradsong discussion list (Tradsong@groups.io) continues to provide a forum for the exchange of ideas and information.
We awarded two bursaries during the year, to enable students to attend and speak at conferences, and a third was awarded but not taken up. This is one of the ways in which we try to help young and new researchers to find their feet in our field, and we would welcome enquiries for future grants.
The move to online meetings meant that we significantly increased our geographical reach, and we have continued to welcome many speakers and attendees from outside Britain and Ireland. We now have 281 signed-up members.
On a sad note, during the year we lost three of our valued colleagues and supporters – John Howson, Gwilym Davies and Peter Wood – each of whom made significant contributions to our field over many years. They will be missed.
Our thanks go to the Friends of TSF, whose voluntary contributions help to pay the bills and have enabled us to keep our membership, and our meetings, free. Thanks also to Shan Graebe (membership secretary), Peter Snape (treasurer), Elaine Bradtke and Kara O’Brien for their continued help in specific roles. Kara now manages our Facebook page and has already achieved a significant boost to our online presence. But most importantly, a round of applause to Martin, who really does keep the whole thing rolling.
One area in which we would welcome some assistance is in the management of the website. Martin set it up and has continued to manage it – this year re-designing and updating the whole thing – but we desperately need someone to take on its management, and to encourage people to contribute material.
And so, from all at TSF, we wish you a merry Christmas – a pocketful of money and a cellarful of beer!
Steve Roud [Added 14 Dec 22]