Tom Maguire was a trade union organiser from Yorkshire of Irish descent whose poetry reflects his socialist beliefs. This volume was published posthumously in 1895 and includes prefatory commemorative remarks by Keir Hardie and John Bruce Glasier. NB Listeners may find some of the references to sexual assault and suicide distressing.

First collection of sung and spoken folk ballads (13 in collection).

Though carols are traditionally associated with Christmas, this was not always the case. “Carol” comes from the French word 'carole' which means circle dance accompanied by singing. It was part of any festivity and gradually came to be associated with holidays like Christmas. In England, festivities were banned following the Civil War and Protestantism, but many song writers and Protestants wrote musical works to be sung at Christmas and these were referred to as “carols.” Today, Christmas anywhere in the world is incomplete without carol singers and songs...

A collection of classic Christian hymns spanning the centuries. Some of the hymns are read; others are sung.

A selection of twenty hymns sung in this recording.

"Originally modeled on the Psalms and other poetic passages (commonly referred to as "canticles") in the Scriptures, Christian hymns are generally directed as praise and worship to the monotheistic God. Many refer to Jesus Christ either directly or indirectly. Since the earliest times, Christians have sung "psalms and hymns and spiritual songs", both in private devotions and in corporate worship (Matthew 26:30; 1 Cor 14:26; Ephesians 5:19; Colossians 3:16; James 5:13; cf. Revelation 5:8-10; Revelation 14:1-5)...

From the earliest period of history, God's people have found joy in expressing their praise to Him in song. This is a collection of 30 favorite public domain hymns of the Christian church. Summary by bookAngel7

A collection of essays on things musical by Vernon Blackburn, including composers, music in different time periods, and modern music.

Preface by W.S.B. Mathews: I have here endeavored to provide a readable account of the entire history of the art of music, within the compass of a single small volume, and to treat the luxuriant and many-sided later development with the particularity proportionate to its importance, and the greater interest appertaining to it from its proximity to the times of the reader.The range of the work can be most easily estimated from the Table of Contents (pages 5-10). It will be seen that I have attempted to cover the same extent of history, in treating of which the standard musical histories of Naumann, Ambros, Fétis and others have employed from three times to ten times as much space...

The Bab Ballads are a collection of light verse by W. S. Gilbert, illustrated with his own comic drawings. Gilbert wrote the Ballads before he became famous for his comic opera librettos with Arthur Sullivan. In writing the Bab Ballads, Gilbert developed his unique “topsy-turvy” style, where the humour was derived by setting up a ridiculous premise and working out its logical consequences, however absurd. The Ballads also reveal Gilbert’s cynical and satirical approach to humour. They became famous on their own, as well as being a source for plot elements, characters and songs that Gilbert would recycle in the Gilbert and Sullivan operas...

This is a subset of the first twelve poems from the second collection of Gilbert’s “Bab Ballads” – light verses poking fun at the life and people of his time in Gilbert’s unique “topsy-turvey” style. The epitaph on his memorial on the Victoria Embankment in London is “HIS FOE WAS FOLLY AND HIS WEAPON WIT”, an epitaph amply exemplified in these verses.

Born in Ontario, Canada, Walter Percy entered the ministry and pastored churches in New England and Pennsylvania, often speaking on behalf of the temperance movement. Many of his poems were written for his children and are here collected under the topics: nature, fireside, sentiment, memories, philosophy, homilies, country, humor. sacred, song poems, and miscellaneous poems. - Summary by Larry Wilson

The Wind Among the Reeds was first published in 1899 and features short, personal lyrics on subjects such as Irish legends and personal relationships. - Summary by Newgatenovelist

“Few books make history and fewer still become the foundational texts for the movements and struggles of an entire people....” One such great work was The Souls of Black Folk by William EB Du Bois. Published in 1903, it is a powerful and hard-hitting view of sociology, race and American history. It became the cornerstone of the civil rights movement and when Du Bois attended the first National Negro Conference in 1909, he was already well-known as a proponent of full and unconditional equality for African Americans...

The Pirates of Penzance; or, The Slave of Duty is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. The story concerns Frederic, who, having completed his 21st year, is released from his apprenticeship to a band of tender-hearted pirates. He meets Mabel, the daughter of Major-General Stanley, and the two young people fall instantly in love. Frederic finds out, however, that he was born on 29 February, and so, technically, he only has a birthday each leap year...

A collection of poems by the Canadian poet William Wilfred Campbell addressing themes of National Identity, Imperialism and the Divinity of Man. - Summary by Alan Mapstone

Published in 1918, Zora Cross’s book of poems, The Lilt of Life, was her third book of verse, and, like her earlier works, largely focused on her experiences of love, erotic entanglements , and motherhood. Many of the poems are written as an homage to her then-husband, David McKee Wright, whom she met while writing for The Bulletin, where Wright was her editor, causing a significant scandal in Sydney literary circles. - Summary by Elise Dee