Anne Gilchrist

Anne Geddes Gilchrist OBE FSA (8 December 1863 – 24 July 1954) was a British folk song collector. Although less well-known than her London-based counterparts, her expertise was acknowledged by Cecil Sharp, Lucy Broadwood, and John Masefield.

Life and work Anne Geddes Gilchrist was born in Manchester, to Scottish parents. She had an unusually good memory for hymn tunes, one of her areas of expertise.

In the very first edition of the Journal of the Folk-Song Society she wrote an article on the song Long Lankin. She reports that a woman in Northumberland used to frighten children by shouting "There's Long Lankin". Gilchrist collected songs from Scotland and the north-west of England. She was awarded the OBE in 1948 for her services to folk song and dance. Her last scholarly article was written at the age of 79. Her papers are lodged in the Vaughan Williams Memorial Library.