Fine Song for Singing is one of the loveliest books I have ever read. It was written by an Australian, Clement Hosking, who spent a summer just before the Second World War listening to and writing down the traditional songs and tunes sung by the people in the Western Isles of Scotland. Very little research has been done on the subject of Clement Hosking. Even the article about him in the Australian Dictionary of Biography lacks important details.' Lest his contribution to the preservation of traditional songs and music of the British Isles pass into oblivion, I have honoured his memory by gathering as much material about him as possible in this article, particularly from people who had some association with him while he was alive.
The University of Sydney acknowledges that its campuses and facilities sit on the ancestral lands of Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander peoples, who have for thousands of generations exchanged knowledge for the benefit of all.
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