Page:Devon and Cornwall Queries Vol 9 1917.djvu/219

 Devon and Cornwall Notes and Queries. 163 all the endeavours which were made to lure him away from the remote North Devon village in which he had first seen the Hght. In the pre-harmonium days attendance at the Friday evening practice was a point of honour with all band and choir members ; and, in addition, every Sunday morn- ing Farmer Darke and Mr. Trace might have been heard at the latter's house in the village putting the finishing touches to the music about to be performed in the sanctuary. As far as is remembered there were three clarionet players ; two of them were capable performers, the third was — well, not quite as good. His playing would seem to have been much on the same level as John Luxton's vocal efforts. One of the trio, a gamekeeper, lived in a solitary cottage in the middle of Hartleigh Wood. A portion of the walls of his house still stands, but were it rebuilt it is extremely doubt- ful whether anyone would now be induced to live there, and one would certainly listen in vain for the sounds of the clarionet issuing Peter Pan-wise from the wood's recesses. Another valued helper was a Mr. Honey, of Holsworthy, an excellent flute-player, who appears to have often contrived to be in the gallery of " Patstowe " Church on a Sunday. It is only a matter of fifty years ago or so that Mrs. Woollcombe, wife of the then Rector, the Rev. Louis WooUcombe (who rebuilt the Rectory and restored the church), first began to play the harmonium. Mr. Trace seems to have loyally accepted the new order of things, since for years he continued to train the choir boys, and he retained his leadership of the choir to the end. He died in 1905 at a good old age, and to the day of his death re- tained almost unimpaired his powders both of touch and voice. But the memory of the life-work of a man who was in his time something of a notabihty will, alas, quickly fade and be forgotten. Indeed, already scarce anyone remembers even hearing the old church band ; and we are indebted to Mr. Edwin Trace, a son of Mr. William, for practically the whole of the material for this article. Mr. Edwin has now passed his sixtieth year, though nimble and active as ever, and he lived in the same house as his father without a break until the latter's death, and also, as a lad, sang in the old gallery for a short period before the church band was cast into the limbo of the past. But quite apart from