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Elsie J. Oxenham and A16_Queen of the Abbey Girls

August 9, 2020 By allisonmthompson 4 Comments

cricket 2A16_Queen of the Abbey Girls takes place in May to November of 1922 and was published by Collins in 1926. It is a strong story with a lot of dancing in it. This installment features Jen Robins—her crowning as the Brown or Beech Queen, her romance, and her presentation to the reader as one of the real spirits of the Abbey. Throughout the rest of the series Jen will retain her bright and merry spirit and she will increasingly become a wise counselor. Queen of the Abbey Girls also features some of the dark side of Joy Shirley: her selfishness and her inability to recognize other people’s emotions. This is another of the series that addresses Faith and God.

Oxenham is now well-set in her series. She is writing for the age group that she preferred: the older teenager or young woman, typically one who must resolve a problem. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Abbey Girls, Uncategorized Tagged With: Cecil Sharp, Elsie J. Oxenham, Flamborough Sword Dance, Hey Boys Up Go We, Kibbo Kift, May Queen

Elsie J. Oxenham and A15_The Abbey Girls in Town

August 2, 2020 By allisonmthompson Leave a Comment

ag in town coatPublished in 1925, A15_The Abbey Girls in Town begins in December 1921, Abbey Time, and concludes in May of 1922. It is the third novel in the Mary-Dorothy and Biddy Devine story arc and one that mostly resolves Mary’s “problem”—that of both unhealthy dreaminess and an over-idealization of Joy Shirley. After this installment, Biddy largely disappears, though she will get her own novel in A21_Biddy’s Secret. There are two major dance episodes in it: one at the Chelsea Polytechnic Christmas dance school, where we meet again with Cecil Sharp (“the Prophet”) and his teachers, and one of a children’s dance performance.

In 1925, Elsie J. Oxenham was forty-four and was well-established as one of the leading writers of books for girls, having published 30 books [Read more…]

Filed Under: Abbey Girls, Uncategorized Tagged With: Abbey Girls, Cecil Sharp, Elsie J. Oxenham, English folk dance, Helen Kennedy North, May Gadd, Morris Dance

Elsie J. Oxenham and A14_The Abbey Girls Again

July 26, 2020 By allisonmthompson Leave a Comment

a 14 2Several weeks ago I wrote in general about the horrors of the Collins abridgments—here with A14_The Abbey Girls Again, we come face to face with them! The abridged version removes not only many of the folk-dance sequences, but a great deal of character development. The original version is much more coherent, if wordier. In this episode, folk dancing appears as having spiritual, moral, physical, and psychologically redemptive powers. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Abbey Girls, Uncategorized Tagged With: Abbey Girls, Bacca Pipes Jig, Elsie J. Oxenham, English folk dance, Kentrucky set running, Morris Dance

New Dances set to Tunes by Turlough O’Carolan

July 25, 2020 By allisonmthompson Leave a Comment

carolanWe interrupt our regularly scheduled programming to announce that 15 years ago (!) I compiled and edited a book of modern English country dances set to tunes by the blind Irish Harper, Turlough O’Carolan. Since then, the repertoire has expanded. One of my lockdown projects has been to publish the new ones online, and so I am happy to announce that 19 new English country dances (and one strathspey—I love the idea of having a modern Scottish dance set to a tune by an 18th century Irish composer on an ECD-oriented site!) are now available on my website:  check out the page titled “Carolan” Both dance instructions and sheet music are available. [Read more…]

Filed Under: O'Carolan, Uncategorized Tagged With: Carolan, harps, Irish harp, Turlough O'Carolan

Elsie J. Oxenham and A13_The New Abbey Girls

July 18, 2020 By allisonmthompson Leave a Comment

new ag
new abbey girls

Published in 1923 and set, Abbey Time, in March through April of 1921, A13_The New Abbey Girls introduces two younger key characters: Rosamund Kane and Madalena (Maidlin) di Ravarati. These girls will support important plot arcs now that Joan Shirley has moved off-stage after her marriage. The New Abbey Girls is a strong episode and one that shows the often-difficult Joy Shirley at her best. In a very mild style, apparent only upon re-reading and thus knowledge of the future, it also starts off her romance. This installment again showcases Cecil Sharp’s folk-dance teachers, particularly “Madam/Duchess” (Helen Kennedy North) and the Pixie (Daisy Caroline Daking). There are many treats for folk-dancers below! [Read more…]

Filed Under: Abbey Girls, Uncategorized Tagged With: Abbey Girls, Cecil Sharp, Chelsea Reach, Elsie J. Oxenham, English folk dance, Helen Kennedy North, May Queen, Morris Dance, rapper sword dance, Spring Garden, Stanley Kennedy North

Elsie J. Oxenham: A12_Jen of the Abbey School

July 12, 2020 By allisonmthompson Leave a Comment

jen of as 1Published in 1927, A12_Jen of the Abbey School takes place immediately before and after A11_The Abbey Girls Go Back to School. Ideally you should read the first half of A11, then the first half of A12, then the second half of A11, wrapping it up with the second half of A12. Jen of the Abbey School takes place from June to December 1920, in Abbey Time. It is an important book for folk dancers as it paints a clear picture of the “folk spirit” as well as incorporating a thrilling folk dance competition. It is also an important book in the Abbey Girl world as it introduces [Read more…]

Filed Under: Abbey Girls, Uncategorized Tagged With: Abbey Girls, Cecil Sharp, Elsie J. Oxenham, folk dance revival

Reading and Buying the Abbey Girls Books

July 4, 2020 By allisonmthompson Leave a Comment

new ag
new abbey girls

After last week’s long post, let’s catch our breath for a moment! I want to remind ourselves of what we are doing and also, if you are ready to race out and buy books by Elsie J. Oxenham, to provide A Dramatic Warning. First, while hopefully the old lags remember, new readers should know that I am blogging about EJO’s Abbey Girls books in reading order, not in publication order. We’ve gotten over the tricksy group of the Retrospective Titles, so, after next week’s post on A12_Jen of the Abbey School, RO will pretty much equal PO. Now for the Warning—there is an Abomination in EJO’s publishing world: the Children’s’ Press abridgments. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Abbey Girls, Uncategorized Tagged With: Abbey Girls, Elsie J. Oxenham

Elsie J. Oxenham and the Abbey Girls: A_11 The Abbey Girls Go Back to School

June 28, 2020 By allisonmthompson Leave a Comment

ag go back 2The current theme of this blog is an examination of Elsie J. Oxenham’s 39-book Abbey Girls series plus some Connectors, in reading order, focusing on the folk dance aspects they contain. With A11_The Abbey Girls Go Back to School, we hit the richest vein of description of Cecil Sharp and his teachers. This volume was published in 1922, and EJO may well have been planning or drafting it while she attended Sharp’s Vacation School at Cheltenham in 1920—it resonates with her now passionate involvement with English folk dance and her admiration of and attachment to Sharp and two of his teachers. If you are a folk dancer and can only read one Abbey Girl book (or wish to only read one!), this is the one to pick up.  The book is dedicated thus: “To Helen Kennedy North and D.C. Daking with thanks for all they have given to me.” Helen Kennedy North (sister of Douglas Kennedy, who ran the EFDS after Sharp’s death) is found herein as “Madam” and Daisie Daking as “the Pixie.”  [Read more…]

Filed Under: Abbey Girls, Elsie J. Oxenham, English Folk Dance, Uncategorized Tagged With: Cecil Sharp, D.C. Daking, Elsie J. Oxenham, English folk dance, Flamborough Sword Dance, Handsworth Sword dance, Helen Kennedy North, Hunsdon House, Maud Karpeles, May Gadd, Morris Dance

Elsie J. Oxenham and The Two Form Captains

June 21, 2020 By allisonmthompson Leave a Comment

two form captainsWe’ve finished the Retrospective Titles and are about to plunge into the mother lode of Elsie J. Oxenham’s depiction of folk dance with next week’s title, A11_The Abbey Girls Go Back to School, but before we attend Cecil Sharp’s Vacation School in Cheltenham, we’re going to make a detour to the Swiss Alps for a “Connector” tale: The Two Form Captains. Both of these books were published in 1921. Oxenham attended the four-week school in 1920 and may well have been planning or writing both books then.  

The Two Form Captains was EJO’s 21st book, and it is the introduction to the five books known as the “Swiss Set.” It is not in the Abbey series but it introduces two characters whom the Abbey Girls meet in A11. They are also referred to in other books and one shows up later, as an adult dance teacher, in A31_An Abbey Champion. The Swiss Set also intersects with the “Sussex Set” and the “Woody Dean Set.” This wandering of characters in and out of each other’s books is one of the charms of EJO’s world, just as real people connect, fade away, and reconnect. It is also one of the fun aspects for the reader—can you figure out these relationships? [Read more…]

Filed Under: Abbey Girls, Elsie J. Oxenham, English Folk Dance, Uncategorized Tagged With: Swiss Set, The Old Mole

Elsie J. Oxenham, Measles, and Quarantine in the Time Before Covid-19

June 14, 2020 By allisonmthompson Leave a Comment

You might be reading this post in an unprecedented state of lockdown or at least of social isolation. But contagious diseases have been around as long as people have. Measles and, to a lesser extent, diphtheria, scarlet fever, typhoid fever, and chicken pox are an important backdrop in Elsie J. Oxenham’s world and appear frequently.  These highly infectious diseases are a Very Useful Plot Device for a novelist! They are more useful than, say, a heavy snowfall or a flood as these latter situations can usually be resolved relatively quickly: roads are opened and floodwaters recede. Instead, contagious diseases can uproot or close a school for a lengthy period of time; they can separate characters or cause them to have to go into quarantine and miss school. A character’s reaction to a disease can also tell us something about her. Elsie J. Oxenham’s approach to contagion and quarantine seems quaint and almost benign in our world of the Covid-19 pandemic. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Abbey Girls, Elsie J. Oxenham, English Folk Dance, Uncategorized Tagged With: Abbey Girls, Elsie J. Oxenham, English folk dance, quarantine

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