Sam Henry (musicologist) facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Sam Henry
Henry with his wife
Born	Samuel Henry (1878-05-09)9 May 1878 Coleraine, Ireland
Died	23 May 1952(1952-05-23) (aged 74)
Occupation	customs officer, pension officer, antiquarian, lecturer, writer, photographer, folklorist, folk-song collector
Children	Olive Mary Henry Craig

Samuel Henry (born May 9, 1878 – died May 23, 1952) was a very talented man from Ireland. He worked as a customs officer and a pension officer. He was also an antiquarian (someone who studies old things), a lecturer, writer, photographer, folklorist (someone who studies folk culture), and a musician. He was especially known for collecting folk songs.

Sam Henry is most famous for his huge collection of nearly 690 folk songs from Northern Ireland. He gathered these songs between 1923 and 1939. During this time, he was the song editor for a newspaper called the Northern Constitution in Coleraine. His collection was named Songs of the People.

Sam Henry's Early Life

Sam Henry grew up in Sandleford, Coleraine, Ireland. He came from a well-known family in Coleraine. He was the youngest of five brothers. His brothers had important jobs: one was a town clerk, another a school principal, and another a vice principal.

When Sam was 19, in 1897, he passed two important exams. He could have become a teacher or an exciseman (someone who collects taxes on goods). He chose to become an exciseman.

What Was Sam Henry Like?

Sam Henry was a very big man, tall and strong. He weighed over 100 kilograms (225 pounds). He often traveled around the northern parts of Ireland for his work. He rode a bicycle and also used a car. He sometimes took buses and trains too.

Sam loved to learn about many things. He called himself an "ardent amateur naturalist, archaeologist, antiquarian, genealogist, and photographer." This means he enjoyed studying nature, ancient history, old objects, family histories, and taking pictures. He was also a member of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland. He was even an expert on the birds of northern Ireland. Sam was a popular speaker and wrote many articles for local newspapers about his hobbies.

His Career and Song Collecting

After working as a customs & excise officer in England for a short time (1903-1904), Sam Henry returned home. He mostly worked around Coleraine. When a new law for old age pensions was created in 1908, Sam was chosen to help people get their pensions in his area. He did this while still working for the tax department.

Sam started collecting folk songs while he was still a civil servant. He continued even after he retired. As a Pension Officer, he visited many poor and elderly people in faraway parts of Northern Ireland. He needed to find out if they could get old age pensions. To help these shy country people feel comfortable, Sam often brought his fiddle and tin whistle. He would play a tune and then ask if anyone knew any old songs. He would then write down these songs using a simple music system called tonic sol-fa.

Songs of the People Collection

In 1923, Sam Henry became the song editor for the Northern Constitution newspaper. He used his newspaper column to ask readers for specific types of old songs. Readers would send in songs, and he would publish them in a weekly series called Songs of the People. He wanted to "search out, conserve, and make known the treasures of the Songs of the People."

To encourage readers, Sam held weekly song competitions. He offered a prize: a free copy of the Northern Constitution newspaper for six months for the best old song sent in. The first song in the series was "The Flower of Sweet Dunmull," published on November 17, 1923. The last song, "The Lass of Mohee," was published on December 9, 1939.

Sam had a long illness and had to stop his work as editor for a while. During his absence, other editors published about 200 songs. When Sam returned, he continued his work. By the time the series ended in 1939, Sam Henry had collected nearly 690 high-quality songs. Many of these songs had different versions. Even though the songs were mostly collected around Coleraine, they came from many places, including Ireland, Scotland, England, and North America.

When World War II began, the newspaper column stopped. But Sam Henry kept collecting and writing notes about songs after he retired. He wanted his collection to be published as a book. He put together two scrapbooks with most of his songs, adding his notes and corrections. He also created three other sets of Songs of the People for different libraries. One set is in the Belfast Central Library, another in the National Library of Ireland (Dublin), and a third in the Library of Congress (Washington, DC). These sets were all put together with different levels of completeness.

Sam Henry's Legacy

Even though Sam Henry tried to get his song collection published as a book, it didn't happen until 1990. This was 38 years after he passed away. The book, called Sam Henry's Songs of the People, was published by the University of Georgia Press. This book includes all the songs Sam had published in the Northern Constitution. The songs' tunes were changed from tonic sol-fa to standard staff notation so musicians could easily read them. The book also has many helpful sections and indexes created by its editors.

Sam Henry's collection has been studied a lot by experts. It has also inspired many famous folk singers to record songs. Some of these singers include Margaret Barry, Paul Brady, Cara Dillon, and Andy Irvine. Andy Irvine, for example, has performed many of these songs since the 1970s.

Besides his song collection, Sam Henry also left behind a huge collection of 11,000 photographs and documents. His grandson, Gordon Craig, gave these items to the Coleraine Museum in 2011. In April 2019, the BBC aired a two-episode TV show about Songs of the People.

Selected Recordings from Sam Henry's Collection

The table below shows some of the songs from Sam Henry's collection that have been recorded by different singers.