John Cook

John Michael Cook (1866 - 1936) was born in Guiting Power, Gloucestershire (a village which is also known as Lower Guiting) in 1866, the son of Charles and Elizabeth Cook. He followed his father's trade, becoming a slater and plasterer and married Sarah Jane from Notgrove in the Spring of 1894. The couple had three children, Kathleen (1895), John Robert (1896)and Margaret Elizabeth (1899). He was one of the younger sources utlised by Cecil Sharp, who visited him on 8th April 1909 as part of his collecting in Gloucestershire that years. He had become interested in fiddle music and country dances and had been given good leads by Eliza Wedgwood. John Cook died in the autumn of 1936.

Sharp collected only one tune from Cook, the Rose Tree, which was given number 2162 in Sharp's fair copy.

Paul Burgess