The Gill brothers & their collecting of folk songs from the Isle of Man - Stephen Miller
Channel: Culture Vannin
Date: 2019-06-21

A talk about one of the most important episodes in the history of Manx music, and why we need to rethink everything we've been told of it over the past 100 years.

The Gill brothers - W.H. Gill (1839–1923) and Deemster J.F. Gill (1842–99) - have remained marginalised and neglected figures in the collecting of Manx folk song, overshadowed by A.W. Moore, whose own 'Manx Ballads and Music' appeared in 1896, and by Dr John Clague, whose collection was published in large part in the 'Journal of the Folk-Song Society'.
Ironically, the Gills have left more manuscript material behind than any of these collectors, found amongst the personal papers of Deemster Gill when they were released in 2000.
Pulling on new research carried out over recent years, Stephen Miller readdresses the place of the Gill brothers and offers a reassessment of their place in Manx cultural history.

Currently based in Vienna, Stephen Miller has a BA in history and an MA in folk life studies from the University of Leeds, and he takes a special interest in Manx folklore, folk song, folk dance and the figures and collectors involved with the Celtic Revival.
He recently delivered this paper at Cecil Sharp House in London.

More of Stephen Miller's research into the music, culture and folklore of the Isle of Man is available via his Chiollagh Books:
https://chiollaghbooks.com/

This film was produced by Culture Vannin in 2019.
Culture Vannin exists to promote and support all aspects of culture in the Isle of Man.
http://www.culturevannin.im
http://www.facebook.com/culturevannin
http://www.twitter.com/CultureVannin