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Sleeve Notes
A Note to Parents: This record has been designed to tell young people about Great Britain — an island kingdom across the sea so different in many ways from our America, yet a land that has contributed immensely to the American heritage.
The gentleman who conducts your child on a tour of Great Britain is Alex Campbell, a Scottish singer and story-teller whose performances are known throughout the English-speaking world. Young listeners discover right away that Great Britain is a land of many different groups—not just "Englishmen" but people from Scotland and Wales, the Lake District and the North Country. Traditional Britain is very much in evidence: there is a parade of the Royal Guards and the Queen rides through the streets of London in her royal carriage. London is the focal point of the first part of our visit; we hear street cries of old London and then the more up-to-date grumble of the famous double-decker buses.
Later, young listeners are whisked off to Edinburgh on a crack train, "The Flying Scotsman." Scotland is shown to be much more than a place of bagpipes and kilts. The ruggedness of the land, the beauty and simplicity of the music, and a Scotsman's way of speaking — all are vividly captured in this recording.
The songs are authentic and delightful. Mr. Campbell sings many of them himself, in versions he personally collected in villages and hamlets throughout Britain. The music ranges from "Rule Britannia" and the hearty hallo-ing of "John Peel" to the tender melodies of a Scottish wedding song, a Mother Goose favorite, and "London Bridge."
Alex Campbell, known on both sides of the Atlantic as one of the finest folksingers of our day, was born in Glasgow, Scotland. He became interested in folklore while working in the British Civil Service and left his post to devote his time to singing and collecting folk material. He has appeared on radio and television, and has presented a series of children's programs for the British Broadcasting Corporation. The script for "Adventures in Great Britain" was prepared in collaboration with Mr. Campbell by Paul R. Krause, well-known American children's author and poet who has traveled throughout Britain as a visitor to this hospitable country.
This recording was authenticated by Miss Sylvia Thorner who holds a Master of Arts degree in Education from Columbia University and has taught the primary grades both in England and the United States.