It was hardly an obvious gift for a young boy, but Tom Knight was delighted with his eighth birthday present. But he can scarcely have been as pleased as his grandfather Reg Reader, who knew that a cherished family tradition was going to live on.

Tom’s present from his grandfather that day wasn’t a video game or a football kit. It was a dulcimer.

If you’re thinking “A what?” that’s not surprising. Although the dulcimer once featured prominently in Norfolk life, it’s been virtually forgotten for decades.

A trapezium-shaped stringed musical instrument with its roots in ancient times, the dulcimer became popular in England in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, particularly in Norfolk, but was on the verge of extinction just a few years ago.

The dulcimer’s heyday was in the 1920s.

Now, thanks to stalwarts like Reg, young enthusiasts like Tom and champions like John Howson, the dulcimer is enjoying a revival.
Next Saturday, Reg and Tom will play at Roots of Norfolk, Gressenhall, near Dereham, which is hosting a Dulcimer Day.

John, co-director of East Anglian Traditional Music Trust, will be presenting the findings of his research into the East Anglian dulcimer at the event. “Dulcimers are all over Europe – it’s an international instrument,” he explains. “It was taken to Norfolk and Suffolk’s heart because it was right for the sort of tune they were playing at the time.”
Dulcimer players in Norfolk developed their own distinctive style, partly due to the type of beaters used in the region, made of bent cane and wrapped in wool. Elsewhere in the country, plectrums and wooden hammers were used to pluck or hit the strings.

The dulcimer’s heyday was in the 1920s and ’30s. The instrument would be played in the home, in the street by buskers, and at social events – but pubs were at the heart of the scene.

Reg Reader and grandson Tom Knight, who is helping keep the tradition alive.

"Most of the old players would have a repertoire of songs that people could sing and dance to,” explains John. “Most of the stuff they played was country dance music, but they would have had a whole range of tunes – all the well-known songs and the first world war songs, like Pack Up Your Troubles.”

Dulcimer players would be called upon to play polkas, schottisches and waltzes, but also tunes suitable for step dancing, a form of tap dancing.
Dulcimer designs vary wildly, but typically they have end blocks made of beech and a veneered pine frame. They have between 20 and 22 courses, but sometimes fewer, of three to six strings, which are made from either steel or brass.

Like a back-to-front piano, the high notes are on the left and the lower notes on the right.
“You can get so many notes from such a small box. It’s a very versatile instrument,” says John.

Between the wars, it was noted that there were 25 ‘dulcimore’ players, as the instrument was known locally, within 10 miles of one parish near Norwich. Meanwhile, buskers played on almost every street corner within the city itself.

So what caused its demise? “The radio and television killed music,” says John. “In a modern pub everyone sits round little tables in groups in their own company. You can’t play if there’s a jukebox on – and you can’t step dance on a carpeted floor.”

Thankfully, the tradition is being kept alive by a new generation.
Tom, now 12, well remembers receiving his unusual birthday present. “I was round Grandad’s one night. Just after dinner he went into the shed and brought out a leather case with a handle on it.”

DOWN MEMORY LANE

If you know anything about dulcimers or dulcimer players in Norfolk, John Howson would like to hear from you. As part of a National Lottery-funded traditional music project called Playback, he’s conducting a survey into the whereabouts of dulcimer players past and present. He’s also assembling a photographic archive of all existing dulcimers in East Anglia. “I would be particularly interested in memories and photos of the following players,” he says. Walter Deacon of Broom Green, near North Elmham, Dereham. He worked on the railway and was mentioned in a 1954 EDP story as being an active dulcimer player. Zephaniah Jarvis of Oak Farm, North Tuddenham, near Dereham. He was a wheelwright and carpenter by trade but was better known for playing the dulcimer, of which he had made seven. He died in 1966 at the age of 89. Mr Self of Itteringham, near Aylsham, who played at home and in the village pub about 1917. His dulcimer now belongs to Strangers’ Hall Museum, Norwich. Frank Rice of Newton Flotman, near Norwich, who had a particularly ornate instrument. The Donald family of Colton, near Norwich, who were all players. Cecil Ely of Wymondham, who played dulcimer in the 1870s and ’80s, and his father Elijah who worked at Page’s wood factory and made dulcimers. Other dulcimer-makers including Arthur Burgess, and, in Norwich, Mark Widdows and Mr Holmes. Is Brian Roger still in the Norwich area? He wrote to the EDP in 1972 to say that, at the age of 25, he was probably the youngest dulcimer player then. Does anyone remember Woods’ music shop of 15 Dove Street, Norwich, which supplied strings and bridges for dulcimers? Does anyone have a dulcimer in their shed or under their bed that belonged to a relative or that they picked up in a junk shop years ago? Is there a photo in your family album of a relative or friend with a dulcimer? Anyone with any information is asked to contact John by phoning 01449 673695, e-mailing him at john@veteran.co.uk or writing to: East Anglian Traditional Music Trust, 44 Old Street, Haughley, Stowmarket, Suffolk IP14 3NX.

Inside the case was a dulcimer. “He stood it on the table and started playing it. My eighth birthday was coming up and he said ‘Would you like it for your birthday?’”

Tom was immediately drawn to the dulcimer’s sound, somewhere between a piano and a harp, and the answer was an emphatic “yes”.
Reg, 68, began teaching Tom how to play the instrument, just as his own grandfather had taught him. “Mum and Nanny would go off shopping. By the time they came back I would have learned a tune and be able to play it for them,” says Tom, of Oulton Broad. “When you start it’s quite hard, but once you’ve learned a couple of tunes it’s quite easy.”

Tom, who plays in several folk bands, has travelled all over the country playing his dulcimer. Earlier this year he and Reg played at York Minster.
He hopes one day to pass the tradition on to his own children or grandchildren. Meanwhile, his sister Megan, eight, wants to learn to play.

Reg, of Knodishall, near Leiston, still plays the dulcimer handed down to him by his grandfather Fred ‘Charlie’ Philpot, who taught him to play. “He was always out playing,” remembers Reg, who played piano at the time. “I spent a lot of time with him and I said, ‘Show us a tune on the dulcimer’. He showed me maybe 20 tunes and the rest I picked up. There was a lot of music hall stuff, like Daisy, Daisy, and the Yarmouth Hornpipe.”

Charlie had himself learned to play from his father James Philpot, of Cratfield, near Halesworth, who acquired the dulcimer from a Mr Howard, swapping it for a pair of boots.

Mr Howard, of Halesworth, was an accomplished player. According to folklore, he once had a dulcimer duel for the title of world champion with a rival player – a clown from a visiting circus.

The pair matched each other tune for tune, but Mr Howard had a trick up his sleeve. He turned his dulcimer the wrong way round and covered it with a silk handkerchief.

Such was his mastery of the instrument that he was still able to give a note-perfect rendition of The Bells of St Mary’s. The circus entertainer had no reply, and skulked back to the big top a beaten man.

Like Tom, Reg loves the sound of the dulcimer. “It’s not a harsh-sounding instrument – it’s very mellow-sounding. When I play it fast it reminds me of a barrel organ.”

Reg, who played from time to time with legendary dulcimer player Billy Bennington, has travelled far and wide with his instrument.
“It’s taken me to France and all over this country: Whitby, Newcastle and Cornwall.”

His daughter Elaine, Tom’s mother, chips in: “Anywhere where there’s beer, he plays.”

When Reg began playing the instrument it didn’t occur to him that he was helping to keep a tradition alive. “I just liked the music. I didn’t think it was important that I kept it going, but as I got older I realised that it was. Now I wish I had learnt more and heard more.”

He beams at the thought of his grandson helping to keep the flame burning. “It’s great, really. I didn’t know whether it would be carried on or not. It does make me proud. It’s nice to sit back and hear one played.”

And his verdict on his protégé’s dulcimer playing? “He’s very good when he puts his mind to it.”

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