Combining scholarship with all the exuberance - and sheer anarchy - of an early travelling band The City Waites sing, play and jest their way through pieces like The Downright Merry Wooing of John and Joan, Lillibullero and The Perils of Tobacco.

They take their name from the musicians who were employed by towns and cities to provide music for festivals and civic celebrations. Their speciality is English popular music from the 16th and 17th centuries, not so much the art music of the time but the music of the common man - the songs, country dances and ballads that were heard in theatres and Great Halls, taverns and village greens between the time of William Byrd and Purcell.

This deliciously eclectic repertoire consitutes one of the richest veins in all Western tradition. From the melancholy sentiments of a Restoration love song to the tuneful cries of street-traders or the funky foot-stomping jollity of a village fair, it found its way into the personal libraries of England's great and good, its universal appeal and relevance still resounding loud and clear centuries later.

Their musical wanderings have taken them to major concert halls, festivals and cultural events throughout the world including British Council tours to the Middle and Far East, the USA, France, Scandinavia, Yugoslavia and the Netherlands. Other activities have included music for the film Elizabeth, the Channel Four documentary Fun With Wigs, BBC broadcasts, concerts at London's Barbican Centre, Queen Elizabeth Hall and St John's Smith Square, tours for the Early Music Network and the NFMS, and collaborations with the Royal Shakespeare Company, Shakespeare's Globe and the Royal National Theatre, where they had the honour of performing for Her Majesty the Queen.

HOW THE WORLD WAGS

Their most popular programme, this is early music for all - 400 years of English songs, ballads, instrumental pieces and dance music from Medieval times and the court of Henry VIII to the Elizabethan playhouse and the streets and taverns of Restoration England. Includes high-speed Estampies, a consort of crumhorns, ballads and part-songs like The Miller of Dee, Lillibulero and Lavenders Green, Purcell rounds and foot-tapping tunes from the English countryside - all presented in the style of a street band.

MUSIC, MYTH AND MAGIC

Songs of witches, spells, spirits and popular legends - early and traditional English music on the theme of the supernatural. Here we meet the Elizabethan Grim King of the Ghosts, Robin Hood, Shakespeare's Ariel, The Farmer and the Devil, Hallowe'en singers, all interspersed with contemporary readings concerning fairies, myths and remedies.

A GORGEOUS GALLERY OF GALLANT INVENTIONS

The broadside ballad of the 17th century was a kind of tabloid newspaper of the day, telling stories of the latest hanging or aristocratic scandal, remedies for the love-sickness, revenge for cuckoldry or just taking the mickey out of country folk. This programme focuses on some of the best and most entertaining, interspersed with foot-stomping country dances and some of the prettiest songs heard on the Restoration stage.

THE MUSITIANS OF GROPE LANE (Adults only!)

Music and song dragged out of the gutters, backstreets and bawdy-houses of Purcell's London. Songs of pickpockets, country clowns, milkmaids and strumpets create the atmosphere of theatre, tavern and country fair. Includes The Lass with the Velvet Arse , The Jolly Brown Turd, the fully staged Jacobean JIGGE Singing Simkin and worse. Presented in full costume, it's rude, lewd - and hilarious.

WELCOME MY LORD SIRE CHRISTESMAS!

Traditional English wassailing songs, early carols and costumed mummery. From the magical opening candlelit procession to the all action Mumming Play, we offer a feast of Xmas music. The Boars Head, Drive the Cold Winter Away, Past Three O'Clock, The Holly and the Ivy and others combine with readings about the true meaning behind our Christmas customs. The spirit of Christmas as it used to be.

TALKING SONGS

The City Waites 'economy show' - this is a duo recital by the group's directors Lucie Skeaping and Douglas Wootton. Lots of wonderful songs and ballads to lute, cittern, guitar and fiddle, all introduced from the platform. This programme was chosen for the NFMS tour.

THE CHILDREN'S MUSICAL MYSTERY TOUR

This fun-packed hour for children and families takes the audience on a musical journey from the stone age up to the time of Mozart. Join Henry VIII's band, fight a knight on horse-back, make caveman music and learn how to make a bum fiddle! Jokes, costumes, participation and over 15 instruments to see and hear, originally commissioned and produced by Royal National Theatre Education.

Welcome My Lord Sire Christesmas!

Early and traditional English folk carols, country wassailing songs, merry dance tunes and costumed mummery

This concert spans many centuries and explores the various themes, Christian, pagan, spiritual and material, found mixed together so delightfully in traditional English Christmas music. Performing in the style of an early travelling band and on a variety of instruments, The City Waites sing, play and jest their way through a wonderfully diverse selection of seasonal songs and dance tunes. Some are familiar like 'The Holly and the Ivy', 'The Boar's Head' and 'I saw Three Ships'; some less well known like the original English country version of 'While Shepherds Watched' or the 'Old Wassail Song' that recalls the ancient tradition of the door-to-door wassail cup.

Along the way The City Waites explore the origins of our Christmas customs like why we kiss under the mistletoe, decorate the house with evergreens, and eat mince pies; we also hear a contemporary account of the popular Frost Fairs that were held each winter on the frozen River Thames. The concert also includes an optional traditional Mumming Play in full costume, complete with favourite traditional English characters like St George, the Turkish Knight and, of course, Father Christmas himself.

The City Waites Christmas music comes from a variety of historical sources from earliest medieval manuscripts to the Samuel Pepys Collection, the British Library and the collections made in the last century by Cecil Sharp and Vaughan Williams whose wax cylinder recordings have helped to preserve this repertoire for future generations.

Lucie Skeaping

Studied at the Royal College of Music and specialises in early and traditional songs of many times and cultures. Her many records include: English National Songs, Music from the court of Henry V111, Cantigas of Santa Maria, Klezmer and Sephardic Music, Pills to Purge Melancholy, The Musitians of Grope Lane. A frequent broadcaster, she presents the weekly early music series 'Music Restored' on BBC Radio. With the City Waites she has performed in many parts of the world, her voice has been heard on numerous TV and film soundtracks, and she has collaborated with the Royal National Theatre, Shakespeare's Globe, the Royal Shakespeare Company and the National Trust. She is also involved with music education and her book for schools Let's make Tudor Music won a Times Educational Suppliment award.

Douglas Wootton

Douglas is one of the few lutanists to accompany himself as a singer. For most of his career he has specialised in research and performance of 16th and 17th century popular ballads and dance tunes. He was Musician in Residence for the Arts Council in South Devon. Other work includes performances with the English National Opera, Opera North, Consorte of Musick, Monteverdi Choir, Royal National Theatre and Royal Shakespeare Company. He runs a large teaching practice and is the author of several popular musicals currently used in schools throughout the UK.

Roderick Skeaping

Comes from a family who made their mark at the beginning of the Early Music revival. He began his playing career very young and went on to perform with some of the country's leading orchestras and ensembles including the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the Academy of Ancient Music and David Munrow's Early Music Consort.He was appointed Leverhulme Research Fellow at the Royal College of Music where he also taught the Viola da Gamba. As a composer he creates all the group's musical arrangements and also composes for the Royal National Theatre (recently The London Cockolds), Royal Shakespeare Company and a number of film scores. His original works for choirs and ensembles have been performed in London's Queen Elizabeth Hall, St. John's Smith Square, and St. Petersberg Philharmonic Hall.

Nicholas Perry

Trained as a horn player at the Guildhall School of Music going on to study instrument making as a Craft Council apprentice. He has performed and recorded for most of London's leading early music ensembles including the Gabrieli Consort, the English Baroque Soloists, the Tavener Consort and His Majesty's Sagbutts and Cornetts. He is also a regular player at Shakespear's Globe Theatre and the Royal Shakespear Company both in London and in Stratford. As well as a performing career he continues to work as an early brass instrument maker and is currently the UK's only professional serpent leatherer.

Visit the City Waites web site for more information.