The Young Tradition

The Young Tradition were a British folk group of the 1960s, formed by Peter Bellamy, Royston Wood and Heather Wood. They recorded three albums of mainly tradition British folk music, sung in arrangements

The Young Tradition were a British folk group of the 1960s, formed by Peter Bellamy, Royston Wood and Heather Wood. They recorded three albums of mainly tradition British folk music, sung in arrangements for their three unaccompanied voices.

The Young tradition were formed on 18 April 1965 by Peter Bellamy, Royston Wood and Heather Wood (who was unrelated to Royston Wood). Most of their repertoire was traditional British folk music, sung without instrumental accompaniment, and was drawn especially from the music of the Copper family from Sussex, who had a strong oral musical tradition. They augmented the pure folk music with some composed songs which were strongly rooted in the English folk tradition, such as sea shanties written by Cyril Tawney, of which Chicken on a Raft was the most notable.