May Elliot Hobbs

              MAY ELLIOT HOBBS,
 musician and rural social worker, is well known to a large number of men and women in the United States interested in creating a fuller country life.  In rural movements in Great Britain she is a conspicuous figure.




After training in Weimar and Munich, under Bernard Stavenhagen, the famous pupil of Liszt, May Elliot was first heard of as a pianist in many countries of the European Continent and in Great Britain.



As a child—the daughter of an eminent Scottish agriculturist—she had been brought up on the songs and dances of her native Scottish Border, the scene of the


Figure

 romantic legends and poetical traditions first made known to the world by Sir Walter Scott.



After her marriage to a member of one of the oldest and most famous farming families in England, she went to live in the Thames valley village of Kelmscott, where the Manor House belonging to her husband's family was rented to the poet, William Morris.




At Kelmscott May Elliot Hobbs was brought into contact with Cecil Sharp, then in the full swing of his English Folk Song and Dance collecting.  From 1908 onwards she was his close friend and supporter.



Figure



Kelmscott Manor, where the Hobbs' forbears lived for over
 400 
years, well known as the home of William Morris the poet; one of the famous houses of England




Since Cecil Sharp's death her work, as teacher, organiser and lecturer for the English Folk Dance Society, has been much extended.




During the War, May Elliot Hobbs was Administrator to the Ministry of Agriculture, and had the opportunity of helping on the formation of Women's Institutes, now 4,000 strong in Great Britain, and recognised as the most important agency for the development of community life and rural arts and handicrafts.



May Elliot Hobbs is a woman who, in the phrase of her friend, General Smuts, has 
raised the temperature
 of life.




In 1919 May Elliot Hobbs made a tour in the United States, delivering lectures which were described as 
vivid and convincing to all who heard them.
 Since then she has been active in Europe in many educational and international spheres.




OPINIONS ON MAY ELLIOT HOBBS



LADY DENMAN,

Chairman of the National Federation of Women's Institutes:
 
I know of no one with a more thorough knowledge of English country life, nor of anyone who has such a happy gift of making an interesting and inspiring speech and keeping the attention of an audience.




THE RIGHT HONOURABLE
 J. C. 
SMUTS
, 
ex-Prime Minister of South Africa:

Personally and in her public work I have formed the very highest opinion of Mrs. Hobbs.  Much of her time and energy has been devoted to fostering a spirit of joy


 in the villages.  It has been a great and beneficial work for which she is eminently gifted.  I have not known anyone more specially fit for this sort of work.  From my heart I wish this noble work all success.



SIR DANIEL HALL,
 K.C.B., LL.D., D.Sc., F.R.S. 
Technical Adviser to the Ministry of Agriculture:
 
I know of few people more qualified to speak with authority and interest on the wider aspect of agriculture and country life.  The wife of one of the leading stock-breeders in England, the present representative of a family that has long been famous in the pedigree world, Mrs. Hobbs has realised that agricultural life means not only crops and stock, but the life of the men and women who make up the rural community.  Mrs. Hobbs lives in the Cotswolds, a district which has preserved to a certain measure its individuality, its old traditions, its local amusements, its songs and dances.  She has done much to bring new life and vigour into the old stock.  She is a vivid and interesting speaker, well accustomed to address large audiences.



PROFESSOR GILBERT MURRAY,
 LL.D., D.Litt.:  
My friend Mrs. Hobbs is quite exceptionally qualified for the lecturing tour she is undertaking.




DAME EDITH LYTTLETON,
 
Chairman of the Common Interests Committee of the English Speaking Union:
 
Mrs. Hobbs, with whom I worked in close association during the War in the Women's Land Army, is a very good speaker and lecturer.  She knows all there is to know about the Country Women's movement in England, both from the technical and social sides.  She interests all who live on or by the land and all who care for the preservation of ancient songs and customs, and at the same time for expression of the eternal vitality and joy of country life through song and dance not only in villages but in towns.


Figure


May Elliot Hobbs in the Rock Garden she made at her home at Kelmscott





MAY ELLIOT HOBBS' LECTURES



ENGLISH FOLK SONG AND BALLAD.  With vocal illustrations.


SCOTTISH FOLK SONG AND BALLAD.  With vocal illustrations.


ENGLISH FOLK DANCE.  A study in Ritual origins.  With lantern slides.


MORRIS SWORD AND COUNTRY DANCES.  Story of their discovery and use by Cecil Sharp.  Lantern slides and music.


AN ENGLISH FARMING FAMILY.  From diaries of records of a hundred years.  With lantern slides.


KELMSCOTT, THE VILLAGE OF WILLIAM MORRIS.  With lantern slides.


THE COTTAGE GARDENS OF ENGLAND.  With lantern slides.


ART AND MODERN DEMOCRACY.


WOMEN'S INSTITUTES.  The forward movement in English country life.


AGRICULTURAL WORTHIES.  Illustrating landmarks in English farming.  With lantern slides.


LIFE IN A VILLAGE IN ANGLO-SAXON TIMES.




For terms apply to:— 
Mrs. Robert Allison Ware 81 Pinckney Street, Boston



Figure


Mr. Cecil Sharp, Mr. Taylor (an old Folk Dancer), Mrs. Hobbs, Miss May Morris (the poet's daughter), and the late Mrs. Morris (the poet's widow)



WHS