Old Devon in music

3rd April 2026

Exeter-born folk singer, songwriter and musician Jim Causley, gave an outstanding performance for cafegoers at their last Wednesday session.

He had visited Sidmouth earlier in the week to play a recital at Kennaway House.

Jim, using accordion and electric piano, sang some of the ancient and traditional folk songs collected at the beginning of the 20th century by the Rev. Sabine Baring-Gould, the West’s equivalent of the better known collector and promoter of traditional songs, Cecil Sharp. He also recited some poetry in Devon vernacular.

Jim, who counts the Cornish poet Charles Causley among his ancestors, has been working on setting to music some of Causley’s poems. Jim also composed the music for the soundtrack of a biographical TV film about the poet commissioned and shown by BBC4.