No 7 — July 1977 Edited by Michael Walters
Dear Mr. Editor,
The question of the pronunciation of "Heigh-ho" in "The Yeomen of the Guard" is very interesting. While in no way doubting the truth of Mr. Williams' remarks, I would presume that American opinion of what is traditional D'Oyly Carte practice is based largely on the 78 rpm. recordings. I have listened to all four of the 78 rpm. recordings of "The Yeomen of the Guard" again. These are (1) the acoustic recording (c.1923) with Nellie Walker as Phoebe; (2) the complete electrical recording (Nellie Briercliffe); (3) the later abridged electrical recording (Beatrice Elburn). All of these ladies pronounce it "high-ho". I would assume that this means that it was D'Oyly Carte practice at that time. It is true that Nellie Walker was not a member of the Company, but as the acoustic recording was supervised by J.M.Gordon, she would presumably have been schooled in what was then the current pronunciation. She obviously learnt her lesson well, for when she recorded the song again for (4) the abridged non-D'Oyly Carte Columbia recording, she still pronounced it "high-ho". It would be very interesting to know if anyone can remember precisely when the changes in pronunciation occurred. Yours sincerely, Michael Walters
Web page created 2 April 1999