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It took me so many years to get around to putting a tune to this that it had already been published twice as a poem…

There is a different version of this song on ‘Tears of Morning‘: this one uses a guitar strung for Nashville tuning, which emphasises the archaic feel to the lyric. (Actually, it’s not in standard Nashville: it’s tuned to the high-strung equivalent of DADGAD.) However, the essential story has been repeated time and time again over the years. Wars are fought and won for the benefit of the ruling classes, not the people who most suffer the consequences of the fighting.

If you want to learn more about Nashville tuning, you might find this book of interest.

When the lord returned to his sheets of silk
And his gentle lady of musk and milk
The minstrels sang in the gallery
Their songs of slaughter and chivalry

The rafters roared with laughter and boasting
Goblets were raised and drained in toasting
The heroes of Crécy and Azincourt
Or the madness of some Holy War

The hawk is at rest on the gauntlet once more
Savage of eye, and bloody of claw
Famine and fever are all the yield
Of the burnt-out barns and wasted fields

The sun grins coldly through the trees
The children shiver, the widows grieve
And beg their bread at the monastery door
Tell me, then, who won the war?

Also published on Substack

Very rough demo of a heavily recast variant on a traditional theme. It’s unlikely to stay unaccompanied.

[or]

Hangman stay your hand awhile, 
Just you let me be
Yonder comes my father dear, 
He's come to pay my fee
Son, I didn't bring no silver
And I won't pay that fee
I just came to see you hanging
From that gallows tree

Hangman, stay your hand awhile
Don't you tie that noose
I think I see my mama come
With gold to turn me loose
I've got no gold or silver
And I can't pay that fee
I just came to see you hanging
Hanging from the gallows tree

Don't put that noose around my neck
Just you let it be
Yonder comes my sweetheart dear
She's come to set me free
Honey did you bring silver
Or gold to pay my fine
And save me from this bitter rope
And save this soul of mine

I sure ain't paid your fine
It does no good to curse
No silver in my pocket
No gold in my purse
No one's riding through the night
In hopes to set you free
But I'll be watching as they hang you
From that hanging tree
I'll be laughing as they cut you down
From the hanging tree

There is, of course a multitude of songs where the potential hanging victim is saved by his/her sweetheart paying his fine (The Gallows Pole, The Prickly Bush etc.), and others where there’s no option of paying his way out of the execution (Derwentwater’s Farewell, The Sheffield Apprentice), or it’s too late to derail the process (Geordie/Georgie) but I didn’t remember one where the sweetheart, presumably in revenge for some slight or injury, came to watch with no intention of effecting a rescue. Maybe at some point I’ll write about the backstory…

Someone I first saw many decades ago in Berkshire, along with Hilary James, who contributes to this album.

They’ve done so many brilliant things over the years. This is an album of tunes associated with the Irish harpist Turlough O’Carolan, and I think it’s terrific.

SIMON MAYOR – Carolan (Acoustics CDACS 082)

David Harley

By Mike Wistow for Folking.com, a lovely review of my book So Sound You Sleep, available from Amazon here. (As paperback or as eBook.)

This is another review for Folking.com of an excellent album by Paul Cowley: five classic country blues tracks plus seven of his own compositions. I love the fact that he focuses on the song and a country blues vibe rather than flashy guitar and hi-tech production values.

PAUL COWLEY – Stroll Out West (Lou B Music LBM007 2023)

David Harley

A song about ‘the Welsh Robin Hood’ – a story I originally found and borrowed from George Borrow’s Wild Wales. Three traditional tunes for the price of one, but on the whole I think I like the Sheepstealer version best. There’s much more information about Twm (and the song) in my next book, Tears Of Morning.

(local backup)

(Sheepstealer tune)

---

local backup:

[Limerick Rake tune]

---

local backup

A man of resource and a thief of ill-fame
Tregaron my home, Twm Siôn Cati my name
Your horses and cattle are all of my game
But rich and respected I’ll die, just the same
Respected I’ll die just the same

In an ironmonger’s shop in Llandovery fair
A fancy I took to a porridge pot there
“Oh”, said the man
“Here are three of the best”
And one I admired above all of the rest
That one above all of the rest

But before I ventured to lay money down
I examined the pot above and around
“Oh no, my good man, this won’t do for me:
There’s a hole in this pot as you plainly may see.”
“There’s a hole in the pot, as you see.”

He peeked in the pot, said “Your pardon I crave,
But no hole can I find, as I hope to be saved.”
I said “Put in your head, and you’ll see it quite plain…”
So he put in his head and tried once again:
He put in his head once again.

But the man had such brains, his head hardly would fit
So I rammed the pot down, meaning but to assist:
The while that he struggled to free himself there
I tiptoed away with the other pair.
I tiptoed away with the pair.

But as I departed, my pots in my hand,
Some advice I gave, as I left him to stand:
“Indeed, there’s a hole, for if there were not,
However could you put your head in the pot?
How could you put your head in the pot?

I’ve considered three ways of setting this to music. The Limerick Rake and the Derry-down-derry tune both work with minimal adaptation, and I have recorded a minimal version of eachhere (you’re welcome!). At the moment, though, I rather like the idea of using a variation on the tune associated with I Am a Brisk Lad (Roud 1667), also known as The Sheepstealer (hence the repeated last line, which is a new addition). It’s a tune closely related to the version of The Holy Well used on the Tears of Morning album as the instrumental introduction to Song of Chivalry.

 

 

Found, I think, in the book Lancashire Legends, Traditions, Pageants, Sports, &c, a book by John Harland, and Thomas Turner Wilkinson published in 1873. The tune is based on a traditional tune associated with the song The Wars In Germany. Much more information in the forthcoming Tears Of Morning book.

“What news, Sir Thomas Prestwich? What battles lost and won?”
“Mama, the King is sorely pressed, his armies overrun.”
“Give him all you have, my son, his armies to maintain;
And God confound the Parliament that brought him to such shame.”

“Mama, the King is sorely pressed, but I dare not stake my wealth,
For I fear the cause is already lost, and we must think of ourselves.”
“Give him all you have, my son, for wealth I have for thee,
Guarded well by charms and spells, my voice the only key.”

“Mama, the King is dead, the Prince fled overseas,
And with him flown my fortune, prosperity and ease.”
But Lady Prestwich said no word, and no sign could she make,
Nor ever did until she died, the enchantment for to break.

“Cruel was the sickness robbed my mother of her speech
And me of my inheritance, forever out of reach.
Cruel was the Protector, who robbed me of my lands,
The price set for their recovery £330.”

“I’ll maybe find an astrologer, some sorcerer I’ll find
To break the spell and find the wealth my mother put aside.”
Many tried, and many failed: Sir Thomas sought in vain
For that treasure never found unto this very day.

“A curse upon my mother, it’s ill she counselled me:
The treasure that she promised me, it seems I’ll never see.
My lands are sold to pay my debts, my fortune is no more:
I’ll bid farewell to thee, Hulme Hall, that I will see no more.”

Yet another review for folking.com:

JULIE JULY BAND – Wonderland (Aurora Folk Records JJB22CD1)

David Harley