Alick Sparks / Sparke (1869-1952)
Alick Sparks was born in 1869 and married Betsey Snelling, both families coming from the same small hamlet of Hightown Green outside the village of Rattlesden in southwest Suffolk.
Family tradition had it that Alick bought the dulcimer in Oldham in Lancashire, when he went to bring Betsey back from service when they were to be married. The 1891 census does indeed show Betsey in Oldham, working as a domestic servant to a machine-maker. Alick was in Suffolk at that point, and eighteen months later they married in Rattlesden. Judging by the birthplaces of their eldest children, the family lived in the nearby villages of Cockfield and Hessett, but by 1911 Alick was farm bailiff at Hollybush Farm, where there was an absentee landlord (Richard Edgar), and he remained there for the rest of his working life.
Alick’s grandson, Denis, said that Alick had been inspired by hearing a dulcimer player locally, one of the Bendall family from Hightown Green. Alick used to play in the Half Moon pub in Rattlesden, at family parties at Hollybush Farm and other social functions in the surrounding area. Many of the extended family were musical, most playing accordion (melodeon). Denis recalled his grandfather as a confident player, using both hands, with a repertoire of dance tunes such as polkas and waltzes, schottisches and hornpipes.
The interview recorded by John Howson with Alick’s grandsons Geoff and Dennis Sparks is transcribed here. It was originally published in ‘Many a Good Horseman’ – A survey of traditional music making in Mid-Suffolk, by John Howson 1985, republished 1993. (Do contact me if you would be interested in purchasing the book – I have a few copies left.)
Alick died in 1952, when his son Tommy inherited the dulcimer.
N.B. There is both inconsistency and heated discussion over the surname Spark/ Sparke/ Sparks/ Sparkes in Rattlesden. When we interviewed Tommy, we were told it was Sparks ‘without an e’, but in most official documentation it appears to be Sparke ‘without an s’!
Alick SParks’ dulcimer
More photos and information about Alick Sparks’ dulcimer
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