Organised to raise money for the Society, the event also recognised Alfred's key role in preserving hundreds of folk song lyrics while compiling Folk Songs of the Upper Thames, and could hardly have had a more suitable location.

It took place at the King and Queen, Longcot, a pub that has Uffington White Horse as a backdrop, which Alfred wrote with great affection about. But it is also almost certain that he would have visited the pub while collecting the songs, just prior to the First World War, and he singled out Longcot, in his introduction to the book, as being one of the most fruitful locations for unearthing them.

Alfred would surely have approved of the suitably varied and inspiring performances on the night, which included an hour-long session for schoolchildren, conducted by Chris Park of Acorn Education, who introduced youngsters from the local school to a range of folk instruments and themes, accompanied by fiddle-playing sheep farmer Michael East.

Swindon folksinger Mervyn Penny modelled a replica agricultural worker's smock for the children - which he wore all evening - and they also listened to a hurdy-gurdy played by Paul Davis. The children joined in with songs and sang others they had learned especially for the occasion.

Chris, Michael, Mervyn and Paul all sang and/or played for the adults too, and there were also performances by squeezebox player Derek Shaw (from barn dance and ceilidh band Also Known As...); Society chairman John Cullimore, who played songs from his CD, The Hammerman; and Bob and Gill Berry, organisers of the annual Chippenham Folk Festival. There were also readings from Alfred's works by Roy Burton and Paul Williams.

But that wasn't all the entertainment. During the break for food, new mummers group The Hijackers arrived from Highworth to give a world premier - a dress rehearsal of the St George's Day play they were performing in Swindon and Highworth, later in the week.

Graham Carter, Vice-chair of the Society, said the night had been a success, and thanked everybody who attended.

"You never know how things are going to go, especially when you are organising something like this for the first time. But we had a good crowd and lots of people said they had a great night.

"Best of all for us was the fact that it demonstrated the power of Alfred Williams to bring people together. We are honoured that so many talented people were so keen to take part, and we will certainly be looking at organising another Folksong Evening - possibly incorporating it in our festival in November.

"Our biggest thanks go to Longcot resident and Alfred Williams devotee, John Forster. The event was his idea, he did a lot of the organising and promoting, and - not unlike Alfred Williams - is blessed with boundless enthusiasm."

Here are a selection of pictures from the event (by Graham Carter and John Forster):

The songs Alfred collected are now online - the large majority of a collection of more than a thousand songs which have been uploaded by Wiltshire County Council. Click here to go to the beginning of the list.

For a detailed look at Alfred's folk song-collecting, see The Folk Hero.

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