A Folk Song A Day

True to his word Jon reminds us, “As I said, The Gaol Song reminded me of this one, learnt on FSC I think.”

A bit more radical this one, written by Dominic Behan for his brother Brendan and included in the latter’s play The Quare Fellow, it subsequently took on a life of its own. Although it’s not explicit in the song, which seems more mundane in its regrets, the play is set the day before the execution of an inmate for a crime that is never specified. Perhaps it’s not surprising that the song later became identified with the Irish rebel cause. Mind you I think the play actually has wider issues in its sights, but then I’m no expert of Behan either. What I do know is that Brendan spent time in Mountjoy prison and was active in the IRA. His stretch at HM’s pleasure was probably responsible for setting him on the path of writing as a career, as his first play, The Landlady, was written while in Mountjoy. On release he dedicated himself to writing but never renounced the Republican cause. Both literature and politics, however, were somewhat subsumed by his drinking. Start with Wiki on the song here and the play here, then you can delve into the lives of the various Behans at your leisure should you so wish.

Jon recalls “I was amazed to discover that the Bee Gees started off as a folk trio – I heard Martin Carthy’s majestic version of this before `I read the sleeve notes and assumed that the Bee Gees bit must have been a mistake. I’ve never tried this in a session but I reckon the chorus could be a belter.”

This is their rather unlikely first hit and a great song. I say unlikely, as the subject of miners trapped underground, with the deliberate slowing of the lines as their chances of rescue expire along with the air, is hardly the stuff of your average Top 20 smash. But an international hit it was, putting the Bee Gees on the pop map in the swinging 60s, although it may well have resulted from the mistaken belief that it was The Beatles operating under a pseudonym. You can Wiki here for more on the song and here for more on the brothers Gibb. I won’t claim to be a big fan, but their early international success did actually produce some very fine songs (really.) I have read somewhere down the (possibly apocryphal) line that they were more or less forced to leave for Australia on the £10 ticket after several brushes with the law. If true it’s almost echoes the transports.  Anyway Martin Carthy is Jon’s source for this and his version is nicely stark. Perhaps it’s not entirely coincidental that it’s followed on the Signs Of Life CD by a version of yesterday’s song, albeit the decidedly English version called Georgie, not that it shares much in common, apart from a similar plotline, with Jon’s take. You may also appreciate a quick read of Martin’s notes at Mainly Norfolk, which also cover Georgie.

Jon reveals, “I learnt this mainly to try and learn the guitar part from the June Tabor / Martin Carthy version on Silly Sisters. I didn’t get very far with the guitar part so here it is unaccompanied.”

Knowing Jon is no slouch with the guitar that’s got me curious, but regrettably, the album doesn’t seem to be available. There are numerous different versions of this, however, and both Child and Cecil Sharp collected the song.  It’s another ballad that may have an historical event at its core, but typically the variations pull it in all sorts of directions with some relating it to a battle and some to theft or poaching. Still there seems a detail to this that makes it seem very realistic. I’m also intrigued by the fact that Robbie Burns got his hands on this and submitted a version to a Scottish museum collection. There could well be something in the idea that this accounts for the last verse as delivered by Jon here.  The story is a good one and I like the idea of the simmering tension that perhaps leads the King’s advisor to council mercy. It does then make me wonder whether the money that is then donated to the Lady to secure Geordie’s release is freely given. If so it seems that saving Geordie was a popular cause. I’ll not add to the speculation on the historical element as I doubt anything can be proved, but If you know different please add the details below and I’ll happily eat my words. I will point you at this Mudcat thread for starters and then this one, also Mainly Norfolk for the words and notes of various recordings.

Jon calls this “Another Irish song I believe, but I know it from Eliza Carthy and Nancy Kerr’s Shape Of Scrape album, which is in my opinion is a hugely important album. It certainly had a massive impact on me.”

This is another song that it’s difficult to add a great deal to. It may be Irish, although it seems to be quite widespread and this Mudcat thread offers a few clues as it certainly appears in Herbert Hughes’ Irish Country Songs. Also the dance hall in Mardyke is in apparently Cork City. It is one of a family of songs, however, that includes Queen Of Hearts and although it wasn’t printed as a broadside until the 1830, there is a suggestion that it has a flavour of the mid C17th about it. That may be speculation, but who am I to argue.

Jon confesses, “I forgot to do this in the autumn and there’s no sensible place to put it now, but it’s such a great chorus song it seems a shame to miss it off. So here it is.”

According to Bert Lloyd’s notes at Mainly Norfolk this actually two songs welded together celebrating both sheep shearing and the harvest. The latter naturally falls into autumn, but the sheep shearing of the title is more early summer to prevent the animals overheating during the hottest months. Sheep would have naturally moulted, but breeding to develop the yield of wool now means that human intervention is needed. So strictly speaking this could probably have gone into June on the basis of title, but the harvest bolt doesn’t really work there. Anyway, timely or not it’s a rousing chorus and I like the suggestion that the verses were repeated until all glasses (or tankards) were charged. I’m not sure about the suggested pagan link other than to say I would be more surprised if harvest festivals were proved to be a recent invention.