Vaughan Williams’s Journey into Folk: 13 July 1904
‘Young William’, Willy Knaggs, Westerdale, Yorkshire
Young William, a sailor, loves Sally, who says he can kiss her where he likes but it must be in the dark to protect her reputation. Their plan to meet in the park is overheard by a captain who finds a way of keeping William away on the designated night, so that he can ‘kiss’ Sally himself. Three months afterwards she marries William, and he assumes that the baby which arrives six months later is premature. The captain becomes the godfather and provides £500. It’s not clear whether Sally who ‘smiles unto herself when thinking of the park’ was aware that the man who met her in the dark was the captain rather than William.
In July Vaughan Williams went to stay in Yorkshire without his wife, Adeline, to work on composition. This self-isolation with the purpose of focusing on music became part of his regular creative practice. On this occasion he spent time on a piece with the working-title of The Ocean, which would become his first symphony: A Sea Symphony. During his stay, perhaps while seeking inspiration on his subject, he nearly drowned while swimming near Robin Hood’s Bay.
He stayed in a farmhouse in Dent, and while in the area, collected a few songs from the Duncombe Arms in Westerdale, close by. On this first visit he met Willy Knaggs, a general labourer and local sexton (a person who looks after the local church and churchyard) who obviously did not feel that this rather outré tale – often known as ‘Kiss Me in the Dark’ - was inappropriate for his office.
Vaughan Williams had some trouble deciding what the time signature should be – he decided on 6/8 but wondered if it should have been in ‘common’ time (4/4). As it is, some of the bars contain seven beats. My feeling, as I sing it, is that Mr Knaggs relished some of the higher notes and held them for slightly longer than required. The tune is reminiscent of ‘William and Phillis’ [see 4 March 1904], perhaps suggested to Mr Knaggs by the shared name in the first line - but with a modal twist.
Vaughan Williams Memorial Library link: https://www.vwml.org/record/RVW2/3/4
Roud No.2535
Next post: 22 July
