[1] George Maynard was born on 6 January 1872[2] or, as he put it, on Old Christmas Day[3] in Smallfield, Burstow, Surrey, about 2 mi (3.2 km) north of the village of Copthorne, West Sussex, where he lived for his entire life.

He was the eleventh of twelve children of James Maynard and his wife Elizabeth (née Skinner), four of whom died in infancy.

He worked with his father and brothers, in the winter as a woodman cutting wood for the hoop trade, in the summer harvesting, hedging and ditching.

At the hop farms there were Londoners and workers from Ireland and from other counties of England, and evenings and Sundays were spent drinking and singing.

At home, Maynard, who admitted to feeling lonely after being widowed, was in one of the local pubs most evenings, singing and playing traditional games, such as shove ha'penny, skittles, quoits, darts, and marbles.

Some songs were original lyrics to traditional tunes, for example "Shooting Goshen's Cocks Up" (Roud 902), written by Maynard's friend Fred Holman to celebrate a poaching incident.

Maynard's longevity meant that he provided a bridge between the first (transcription-based) and second (field-recording-based) British folk revivals and kept alive songs which might otherwise have been forgotten.

The same can be said for his version of "A Sailor in the North Country" ... which must once have enjoyed a widespread popularity, judging by its frequent appearance on song sheets.

[14]When Collins recorded "Polly on the Shore" on her 1970 album Love, Death and the Lady with her sister Dolly, she wrote: From George Maynard, of Copthorne, Sussex.

Singer Emily Portman wrote: Martin Carthy introduced me to George "Pop" Maynard's singing when I was 17.

Kennedy was one of the presenters of the BBC folk music radio programme As I Roved Out, which was broadcast during the 1950s, and he brought a team to one of these sessions, at the Cherry Tree pub in Copthorne, in February 1956.

One of them, The Times music critic, criticised Pop Maynard for allegedly not knowing his words and for having a poor standing posture.

"[7] Plunkett brought several musicians including Maynard to perform in A Sussex Concert at Cecil Sharp House in March 1958, and later to make a second attempt at the EFDSS English Music Festival competition.

Maynard, now 86 years old, was brought on to the RFH stage to sing two verses of "Rolling in the Dew" in his usual unaccompanied style, and was then expected to hand over to Jeannie Robertson to finish the song.

The intention was to demonstrate the assimilation process in folk music, showing a Sussex song being adapted by a Scottish singer, but Hall observed that "Pop was confused and upset and Jeannie was clearly embarrassed by such unimaginably crass stage direction.

"[18]: 61  Hamish Henderson glossed over the event in his notes about "Rolling in the Dew" on Robertson's 1960 EP Lord Donald: "In 1958, in the Royal Festival Hall, Jeanne made a hit with this song after Sussex veteran, Pop Maynard, had given his own fine traditional version."

[26] The modern competition takes place every Good Friday at the Greyhound pub in Tinsley Green, West Sussex, and has run continuously since 1932, with exceptions for World War II[27] and the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic.

[28] Maynard was first a member of a world champion team when Copthorne defeated the London Passenger Transport Board in 1941.

[36] In July 1954, his reputation brought Maynard the opportunity to fly to Le Touquet at the invitation of its mayor to play exhibition matches.

[11] Marbles historian Sam McCarthy recalls the official commentator describing Maynard's play that year to be "as quick and agile as a two-year-old".