The Etchingham Steam Band
 
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A Garland Of Songs And Dances

A village and civil parish in the Rother District located in East Sussex, southern England. The village is located approximately 12 miles (20km) north-west of Hastings.
 
The name Etchingham is probably derived from Old English, and roughly translates as "The homestead or enclosure of family and followers of a man called Ecci". 'inga' in a place name usually refers to 'people of' or 'dwellers at', and 'ham' refers to a homestead or settlement, so this explanation seems the most probable.
 
There is a second less likely derivation of the name, it could come from the Anglo Saxon 'ECEN', meaning great + 'HAM' (homestead), but the former explanation is the most likely
 
During 1974 and 1975 Shirley Collins and Ashley Hutchings led a remarkable acoustic ensemble playing the traditional music of southern England, around the folk clubs and festivals of Britain. Twenty-seven years later, this important historical collection draws upon a number of private live recordings.

Named after the village in Sussex where he and Shirley Collins were living, the Etchingham Steam Band was an all-acoustic project of Ashley Hutchings, put together in early 1974 and featuring Shirley Collins as vocalist (who had earlier contributed similar material to both "No Roses" and "Morris On"). Initially formed around the nucleus of Shirley, Ashley, Ian Holder and Terry Potter (with occasional contributions from Simon Nicol), it transmuted into a larger, more flexible operation around mid 1974 with, at various times, contributions from Will Duke, Mel Dean, Vic Gammon, Dave Mattacks, and even Peter Knight (according to Pete Frame's "Rock Family Trees"), plus Eddie Upton as dance caller. Eventually, a subset of the Etchinghams became the more "electric" Albion Dance Band, in 1975, which included Dave Mattacks as more of a permanent drummer (shared with Fairport Convention duties), and brought Graeme Taylor (ex Gryphon) and John Tams (ex Muckram Wakes) into the Hutchings fold for the first time.
 
related internet links
 
A traditional music and
folk music archive
of reference and
educational materials

a links page for traditional music,
dance and drama in North Oxfordshire

where it all started no one is quite sure.
that it has anything to do with ancient
fertility rites is a complete load of cobblers!

mummers have been performing in
Adderbury since 1997 when it began
as an off-shoot of the above mentioned
Adderbury Morris, and you can't say
fairer than that

of Rottingdean, East Sussex
a living tradition of the English tradition
 
very special thanks goe out to
Gary Holder, son of  Ian Holder,
for the photograph of
The Etchingham Steam Band
on the next page