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589 St Mary’s Music Club. See Church Street Club. Sam Henry Collection. From 1906, or before, until his death, Sam Henry collected songs. About 500 of these appeared first in the Songs of the People collection and have been published in book form.The rest remain in typescript or manuscript, though they have been listed and systematised and are eventually to be published.This remainder contains about 500 more songs and song fragments but has a lot more information about singers and the song tradition, some of it contained in letters from singers themselves. Sam Henry made lists: of the repertory of a few singers (many more titles than the songs he collected); of the singers in the north Co. Derry/Co. Antrim area (many more names than those from whom he collected); of the collections of other people in his area, some whose collections, like that of Mrs Houston of Coleraine, are since lost. He investigated the stories and origins of songs; he recorded information about singers; in a few cases he took their photographs. He collected books of songs and noted versions of songs or the name of the person who,in his experience , sang that song. collectors. He kept his correspondence with other collectors: with Archie McEachren of Kintyre, Scotland; with Francis Collinson, music editor of the BBC radio programme Country Magazine and later a fellow of the School of Scottish Studies; with the English collectors Walter Pitchford and Harry Albino; and the Americans Alan Lomax and Helen Hartness Fanders. He kept his BBC contracts and scripts, cuttings of his newspaper articles and lectures. He retained the books he learned fiddle music from.Altogether,the collection amounts to a tantalising,but incomplete (unfortunately, it is likely that a lot of paper was sacrificed to be pulped when it ran short during the Second World War) series of glimpses into the singing and traditions of a fairly small area (within about twenty miles of Coleraine) in the first half of the twentieth century. However, given that Mrs Houston’s collection was from the late nineteenth century, and that both Len Graham and Hugh Shields’s collecting and much of John Moulden’s researches have been in or near this area, coverage is extensive if less than comprehensive. [JOM] See also Henry, Sam. Sands, Colum. (1951– ). Born in Mayobridge near Newry, Co. Down, one of the multi-talented Sands family. His own songs are minutely observant, humane and cleverly written. Three solo albums – Unapproved Road, The March Ditch and All My Winding Journeys – demonstrate him as a songwriter of great lyric melodic power and integrity. Best-known songs include ‘The Man with the Cap’, ‘The Last House on Our Street’, ‘Almost Every Circumstance’ and ‘Whatever You Say, Say Nothing’. A radio presenter on BBC Radio Ulster, he presents Folk Club and Sands of Memory. Also an accomplished record producer, he runs Spring Studios in Rostrevor which has recorded much traditional music. His five solo albums are Unapproved Road, The March Ditch, All My Winding Journeys, The Space Between the Notes, Live in Concert and Look Where I’ve Ended Up. [JOR] Sam Henry playing a cellulose whistle on Rathlin island 1930s-40s [courtesy Gordon Craig and the Henry estate] S Sands, Tommy 590 Sands,Tommy. (1945– ).Singer,songwriter,storyteller , social activist. Born in south Co. Down into a musical family, he has achieved something of a legendary status in his lifetime. His younger years were spent on pioneering music and song tours with his siblings as The Sands Family, which was a strong force in Europe among traditional groups of the early years of traditional music revival. One of Ireland’s most applied songwriters and engaging performers,he enjoys celebrity status in many parts of the world, this a legacy which is part artistic integrity, part effective personal engagement with large-scale human traumas. Walking the road between two cultures in Ireland conditioned his consciousness, creating for him the vision of an ideal world as being one without conflict.His songs speak to all that Ireland is – from its troubled past to a future in hope, and his work around the globe speaks to a common human heritage, using music to bridge cultural differences. In this way he shares the vision of many other idealistic songwriters who were important in instigating social change – such as Phil Ochs,Joan Baez and Pete Seeger.For many years a soloist who has played in both New York...

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