A Folk Song A Day

One from Burlesque and also Bellow to compare and contrast and Jon says, “A gem of a broadside dug up by Bellamy from God knows where. Paul Adams from Fellside gave me a load of Bellamy stuff on cassette and I remember when this came on I had to stop the car and listen to it on repeat for half an hour.” Mainly Norfolk suggests that once again Bellamy got hold of the lyrics without a tune, so he composed this one. It’s in the (Sir Frederick) Madden Collection, Cambridge according to Paul Sartin on the Burlesque CD notes. I found an introduction to said online that starts…

“Before the creation of newspapers, broadside ballads–also known as slip songs–were the public’s chief source of information about current events. Madden Ballads presents 18th and 19th century songs and ballads from the holdings of Cambridge University Library in the United Kingdom. The ballads were purchased by the common man from street singers, print shops and vendors throughout the country. Madden Ballads preserves this important primary source material. It traces the evolution of the broadside ballad from a simple printed sheet in the standard “old face” Caslon type to a large sheet containing several ballads in a decorative layout using fancy type, flowers and rules. Themes explored include romance, social satire, sporting events, crime, history and politics.”

I can’t remember whether I’ve already posted this Wiki link or not and this is where that glossary I keep threatening would come in useful (hours in the day, etc). Here’s another Wiki page that helps build the print story for you all. Anyway, you can also read more at Mudcat about the song, its possible Scottish origins (the word blate rather than straight, etc) and its similarity to Old Smokey. I quite like the irreverent suggestion this is off the problem pages of GQ. I’m sure we all have some incidence of being blate in our lives. You’ll tell me I’m wrong and it’s only me next…

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Jon recalls, “I absolutely loved the Kate Rusby & Kathryn Roberts album. I got it in my second year at uni and drove my housemates mad with it. Strangely I never learnt anything from it (although I was already singing Suzanne Vega’s Soldier & The Queen – should I record that for this thinking about it..?), but finally got round to learning this a few months ago.” This is one possibly of Welsh or simultaneous Welsh / English creation and probably a set of lyrics written in the Victorian era to popular tune. There’s a Mudcat thread here that seems to offer plenty on the possible origins of this brisk little gallop.

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Now Jon’s got me intrigued again saying, “A classic from the Copper family. Some versions have ‘shrimps of the sea’ which used to result in a variety of shrimp impressions from the assembled company at the Half Moon. Safest to stick with fish methinks.”Shrimp impressions! Now that I have to see, but Jon does use the ‘sh’ word here as well. Anyway, Mainly Norfolk has some details of recordings of this and the Copper’s song index has this as The Foresaken Mermaid, which strikes me as a slightly odd title for the story line, as the song’s unfortunate subject drowns – surely not something any self respecting mermaid would do. I liked the note about Martyn Wyndham-Read’s version from Paul Adams that the “tune is a little intricate, but Martyn is more than a match for it and tackles it with great relish.” I think the same applies here.

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Jon is clear on his source for this saying,“Eliza taught this to John and me for the Rough Music album. I think it’s my favourite Ratcatchers’ track, although it was a tough one to get right (not least because it was in B^b.) I’m looking forward to having a go at this with Eliza at the Spiers & Boden birthday bash at Shepherd’s Bush Empire in May.” I wish I was so clear, as this is immediately familiar to me in a way that many of these songs (or more specifically the tunes), aren’t. Perhaps it’s used for something else, although in my minds ear I can hear Eliza singing it and as I don’t own Rough Music, that’s a bit of a puzzle. Perhaps it’s just from a live show I’ve seen. Anyway, I digress, and refer you to Mainly Norfolk for the goods on Eliza and Shirley Collins’ versions. That page also links to this Mudcat thread although you might find this somewhat easier on the eye (it has the benefit of brevity), and interesting from the perspective of Broadsides.

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Jon says, “My absolute favourite Tim Hart and Maddy Prior track. The harmony line is so good that it took me a very long time to work out who had the melody. I think I picked the right line!” This seems to be known alternatively as Wiilie-O, while there is at least one other completely different song known as Bay Of Biscay(-O). Just to add to the confusion, you’ll note that Willie The Waterboy is also used as the title by Brass Monkey on their recording as noted on Mainly Norfolk. There seems to be some debate about the origins of this as well although an Irish source seems most likely from the assembled notes and this Mudcat thread. To back that up to some degree, there’s a version of Willie-O from an Irish singer called Nora Clearly on Vol.3 of Topic’s Voice Of The People series, which starts with Willie’s appearance, but adds a concluding verse about the lovers meeting again “when the fishes they will fly and the seas they will dry and the rocks will melt to the sun.” This is one of the night visiting songs and it’s quite possible as that Mudcat thread suggests that the verses are a bit slippery. I’m grateful for the notes on Mainly Norfolk about the seven year period and the soul denied a Christian burial and therefore rest, as both are obviously recurring motifs. I’ve managed to find the Waterson:Carthy version of this but does anyone have the version Jon refers to? I’d like to know more about it.

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