Seth Lakeman

Seth Lakeman is a West Country folk singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, best known for the fiddle and tenor guitar. He was born on 26 March 1977 in Yelverton and grew up in Buckland Monachorum, on the south-west edge of Dartmoor, with his brothers Sean and Sam. He began playing music with his family at an early age.

His site describes him as a Mercury Prize nominated Westcountry singer-songwriter. The nomination, in 2005, was for Kitty Jay, whose title song tells the story of Jay's Grave near Hound Tor. The album was recorded by his brother Sean at the Piano Kitchen in Horrabridge, and the Wikipedia article on it says the songs were inspired by stories and legends from Dartmoor, where he grew up.

His next album, Freedom Fields (2006), includes a version of the traditional ballad Childe the Hunter, the Dartmoor story behind Childe's Tomb. His February 2025 album The Granite Way, on his own Honour Oak Records label, includes The Black Fox and The Huntsman and the Moon, both drawn from Dartmoor legend. Press coverage in 2025 says he still lives on the edge of the moor and plays a regular session at the Drake Manor Inn.

Observation: Dartmoor is a recurring source for him rather than his only subject. Other albums and songs draw on Cornwall, Bodmin Moor, Exmoor and the sea, so only the songs listed here are filed as Dartmoor works.

Sources: sethlakeman.co.uk; sethlakeman.co.uk; en.wikipedia.org; www.greatbritishlife.co.uk; www.tavistock-today.co.uk