Magpie Lane

Magpie Lane

Magpie Lane is an English folk group based in Oxford, United Kingdom. It forms in the winter of 1992–93 to record The Oxford Ramble, a collection of songs and tunes from, or about, Oxfordshire. Although it begins as a one-off recording project, it continues as a working band and remains active.

Early recordings and repertoire

The success of The Oxford Ramble leads to a second CD, Speed the Plough, followed by Wassail: a Country Christmas and Jack in the Green. Another release, A Taste of Ale, is commissioned by the author and folk-song scholar Roy Palmer to accompany his book of the same name. The band later records Six for Gold, and then a Christmas album, Knock at the Knocker, Ring at teh Bell. Its repertoire begins with a strong focus on Oxfordshire, and although concert sets later include songs from Ireland, the Isle of Man and France, together with some newly composed pieces, English traditional songs and dance tunes remain central.

Line-up and musicianship

A Taste of Ale is the first recording to feature Benji Kirkpatrick. Six for Gold includes Sophie Polhill and Marguerite Hutchinson alongside Benji Kirkpatrick, Ian Giles, Mat Green and Andy Turner. Knock at the Knocker, Ring at teh Bell is the only recording so far to feature Jon Fletcher. The group’s line-up is built around a strong vocal blend: all members sing, and vocal harmonies are one of its identifying features. The band is fronted by Ian Giles. Its early instrumental sound follows the shape of a nineteenth-century village band, with fiddle, cello, concertina, whistles and percussion prominent, but it also uses a wide range of other instruments including bouzouki, guitar, melodeon, autoharp, smallpipes, recorders, flute, harmonium, viola and Appalachian dulcimer.

Live work and festivals

After the release of The Oxford Ramble, the group gives a series of promotional concerts in and around Oxford, which helps establish it as both a live act and a recording group. It develops a regular Christmas concert tradition at the Holywell Music Rooms in Oxford, where performances are sold out. Magpie Lane also appears at festivals including Sidmouth, Towersey, Fylde and Chippenham. At Sidmouth in 1999, it provides music for the Arena Theatre show Flashback, which marks the 1899 meeting of Cecil Sharp and William Kimber and the continuing revival of morris dance in England.

Style and identity

The group is widely associated with an English sound. Its approach favours the spirit of traditional music rather than a strictly reconstructed historical style, even while drawing on the model of a nineteenth-century village band.