Dave Bathe (1944-1993) grew up in Essex, studied Economics and Social History at Hull University and worked as a town and country planner in Berkshire before moving to Derbyshire to work in the planning department of the county council. His interest in folk music and dance led to him becoming a morris dancer with the Winster Morris Dancers. He moved from Matlock to live in the village and also became a member of the revived mummers’ group, the Winster Guisers. He researched the Oddfellows Club Day festivities in Taddington (which included a morris dance) and his dissertation led to the award of a Certificate in English Cultural Tradition at the University of Sheffield. He published the results in the Folk Music Journal in 1985. Dave died tragically in a car accident in 1993.
Bathe amassed a large collection of published material on the mummers’ play in Derbyshire, including the results of newspaper searches, and he conducted extensive fieldwork, contacting informants through newspaper appeals.
Bathe’s collection is held in Special Collections at the library of the University of Sheffield. The reference is ACT/97-003.
The collection is available to researchers.
An extensive catalogue is available here: https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/polopoly_fs/1.517316!/file/Bathe.pdf
The catalogue contains a detailed biography.