The Barrow Poets or Barrow Collective were a group of

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

s and

folk musician Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has bee ...

s formed in England in the 1950s. Their name came from their practice of selling, from a barrow, copies of works they had written or performed. Members at different times included Gerard Benson, Jim Parker, William Bealby-Wright, Christine Shotton, Cicely Smith, Heather Black, John Naylor, Susan Baker, and William Gardener. They released several folk and

spoken word Spoken word is an oral poetic performance art that is based mainly on the poem as well as the performer's aesthetic qualities. It is a 20th-century continuation of an oral tradition, ancient oral artistic tradition that focuses on the aesthetic ...

albums on

Argo Records Argo Records was a record label in Chicago that was established in 1955 in music, 1955 as a division of Chess Records. Originally the label was called Marterry, but bandleader Ralph Marterie objected, and within a couple of months the imprint w ...

from 1963 to 1981, sold mostly at their own gigs. The group "performed everything from Shakespeare and Milton to limericks and risqué ballads everywhere – from the back rooms of pubs to BBC's '' Late Night Line-Up'', around the country and in Europe and the US". "The Pheasant Plucker's Song" was an Australian Top 10 single.

References

English-language poets 20th-century English poets British spoken word poets British humorous poets English folk musical groups 1950s establishments in England Musical groups established in the 1950s English artist groups and collectives {{England-band-stub