Saturday 6 November 2010

A Sailors Life


Fairport Convention

from the recording
Unhalfbricking (1969)

A Sailor's Life
(Trad. arr. Fairport Convention)

A sailor's life, it is a merry life.
He robs young girls of their hearts' delight,
Leaving them behind to weep and mourn,
They never know when they will return.

Well, there's four and twenty all in a row
My true love he makes the finest show.
He's proper tall, genteel and all,
And if I don't have him, I'll have none at all.

Oh father, build for me a bonny boat,
That on the wide ocean I may float
And every Queen's ship that we pass by,
There I'll enquire for my sailor boy

They had not sailed long on the deep
When a Queen's ship they chanced to meet.
"You sailors all, pray tell me true,
Does my sweet William sail among your crew?"

"Oh no, fair maiden, he is not here
For he's been drownded we greatly fear
On yon green island as we passed it by,
There we lost sight of your sailor boy."

Well, she wrung her hands and she tore her hair.
She was like a young girl in great despair.
And her little boat against a rock did run.
"How can I live now my sweet William is gone?"


Sandy Denny lead vocals
Ashley Hutchings bass guitar
Martin Lamble percussion
Simon Nicol electric guitar
Richard Thompson electric guitar
Dave Swarbrick fiddle

Saturday 4 September 2010

If I Had A Ribbon Bow



Fairport Convention
from the recording
Fairport Convention (1968)

The first single from Fairport. Issued in the UK on the Track label in 1968, featuring Judy Dyble on lead vocals. It appeared as a bonus track on the 2003 Polydor U.K. c.d. re-issue of
Fairport Convention

If I had a ribbon bow to tie in my hair
And a gown of calico for me to wear
I'd surely get a sweetheart, a prince or a king
A palace home where I could have everything.


If I had a ribbon bow to tie my hair
This old world could come and go I wouldn't care
I'd stay up in my castle and I'd always wear
A ribbon bow so fine to tie my hair.

All the livlong day, to the lord above me
All I do is pray, for someone to love me.


If I had a ribbon bow, all nice and clean
I could be a princess or a fairy queen
Prince Charming then would court me, his love he would swear
If I had a ribbon bow to tie in my hair.


There's a story of a girl, a story seldom told
What she wanted from this world was not of gems or gold
Her wishes were quite plain as you will see
How often she would simply make this plea.

All the livlong day, to the lord above me
All I do is pray, for someone to love me.


If I had a ribbon bow, all nice and clean
I could be a princess or a fairy queen
Prince Charming then would court me, his love he would swear
If I had a ribbon bow to tie in my hair

[Huey Prince, Louis Singer]

Ian MacDonald (later Matthews), lead vocals, jews harp
Judy Dyble, lead vocals, electric & acoustic autoharps, recorder, piano
Richard Thompson, vocals, lead, electric & acoustic guitars, mandolin
Simon Nicol, vocals, 12 & 6 string electric & acoustic guitars
Tyger Hutchings, bass guitar, jug
Martin Lamble, percussion, violin

The Brilliancy Medley/Cherokee Shuffle


Fairport Convention

performed on The Old Grey Whistle Test (1973)

originally to be found on the recording Nine (1973)

The Brilliancy Medley (Eck Robinson)
Cherokee Shuffle (Tommy Jackson)

Jerry Donahue: acoustic guitar (lead)
Trevor Lucas: acoustic guitar (rhythm)
Dave Mattacks: bass guitar
Dave Pegg: mandolin
Dave Swarbrick: violin

To Althea From Prison



Fairport Convention

from the recording Nine (1973)

The lyrics are from the famous poem by
Richard Lovelace (1642) and the music is by Dave Swarbrick. The clips are from the film Fly Away Home (1996)

WHEN Love with unconfined wings
Hovers within my gates,
And my divine Althea brings
To whisper at the grates;
When I lie tangled in her hair,
And fetter'd to her eye,
The gods, that wanton in the air,
Know no such liberty.

When flowing cups run swiftly round
With no allaying Thames,
Our careless heads with roses bound,
Our hearts with loyal flames;
When thirsty grief in wine we steep,
When healths and draughts go free,
Fishes, that tipple in the deep,
Know no such liberty.

When (like committed linnets) I
With shriller throat shall sing
The sweetness, mercy, majesty,
And glories of my king;
When I shall voice aloud how good
He is, how great should be,
Enlarged winds, that curl the flood,
Know no such liberty.

Stone walls do not a prison make,
Nor iron bars a cage;
Minds innocent and quiet take
That for an hermitage;
If I have freedom in my love,
And in my soul am free,
Angels alone that soar above,
Enjoy such liberty

[Richard Lovelace/Dave Swarbrick]

Jerry Donahue: electric & acoustic guitars
Trevor Lucas: acoustic guitars, vocals
Dave Mattacks: drums, percussion, keyboards, bass guitar
Dave Pegg: bass guitar, mandolin, vocals
Dave Swarbrick: violin, viola, mandolin, vocals

a note: this is the complete poem, Fairport omit the third verse in their version.

Bring 'em Down


Fairport Convention

from the recording
Nine (1973)

Time stood dark and silent and the stars they gave no light
I wandered in an endless dream, haunted by the night
I saw four ghostly riders, the horses in a line
Each in turn did point at me and say I'm on full ?rein?

We are the sculptors of the land, the rulers of the sea
We are the falcons of your sins, gardeners of the trees
The air about you is burning and the sea below does drown
And the legacy you leave your ?swan? will surely bring 'em down

Bring 'em down Bring 'em down Bring 'em down
Bring 'em down Bring 'em down Bring 'em down

A curse upon you men of war, with gun or pen in hand
The power sword or . . . the castles made of sand
You always have good reason to take more than you need
Your hearts are full of paper and your minds are full of greed

Bring 'em down Bring 'em down Bring 'em down
Bring 'em down Bring 'em down Bring 'em down

What is deeper than the ocean, colder than the grave
Stronger than your armies all and braver than the brave?
Those who know and ?knowing know? will sow on fertile ground
Those who don't and never would are those you will go down

Bring 'em down Bring 'em down Bring 'em down
Bring 'em down Bring 'em down Bring 'em down

[Trevor Lucas]

Jerry Donahue: electric & acoustic guitars
Trevor Lucas: acoustic guitars, vocals
Dave Mattacks: drums, percussion, keyboards, bass guitar
Dave Pegg: bass guitar, mandolin, vocals
Dave Swarbrick: violin, viola, mandolin, vocals

Thursday 2 September 2010

Tam Lin (Live)


Fairport Convention

originally to be found on Liege & Lief (1969)

“I forbid you maidens all that
wear gold in your hair
To travel to Carterhaugh, for
young Tam Lin is there

None that go by Carterhaugh
but they leave him a pledge
Either their mantles of green
or else their maidenhead”

Janet tied her kirtle green a
bit above her knee
And she's gone to Carterhaugh
as fast as go can she.

She'd not pulled a double rose,
a rose but only two
When up then came young
Tam Lin, says,“Lady, pull no more”

“And why come you to Carterhaugh
without command from me?”
“I'll come and go,” young Janet said,
“and ask no leave or be”

Janet tied her kirtle green a bit
above her knee
And she's gone to her father
as fast as go can she.

Well, up then spoke her father dear
and he spoke meek and mild,
“Oh, and alas, Janet,” he said,
“I think you go with child”

“Well, if that be so,” Janet said,
“myself shall bear the blame
There's not a knight in all your
hall shall get the baby's name

For if my love were an earthly knight,
as he is an elfin grey
I'd not change my own true love
for any knight you have”

So Janet tied her kirtle green a
bit above her knee
And she's gone to Carterhaugh
as fast as go can she.

“Oh, tell to me, Tam Lin,” she said,
“why came you here to dwell?”
“The Queen of Fairies caught me
when from my horse I fell

And at the end of seven years
she pays a tithe to hell
I so fair and full of flesh
and fear it be myself

But tonight is Halloween
and the fairy folk ride
Those that would let true love
win at Mile's Cross they must hide.

So first let pass the horses black
and then let pass the brown
Quickly run to the white steed
and pull the rider down.

For I'll ride on the white steed,
the nearest to the town
For I was an earthly knight,
they give me that renown.

Oh, they will turn me, in your
arms, into a newt or a snake
But hold me tight and fear not,
I am your baby's father.

And they will turn me, in your
arms, into a lion bold,
But hold me tight and fear not
and you will love your child.

And they will turn me' in your
arms' into a naked knight
But cloak me in your mantle
and keep me out of sight”

In the middle of the night
she heard the bridle ring
She heeded what he did say
and young Tam Lin did win.

Then up spoke the Queen of Faerie,
and an angry queen was she,
Woe betide her ill-far'd face,
an ill death may she die

“Oh, had I known, Tam Lin,” she said,
“what this night I did see
I'd have looked him in the eyes
and turned him to a tree”

[trad. arr. Dave Swarbrick]

(Copyright © 1969 Warlock Music)


Sandy Denny, vocals
Dave Mattacks, drums
Ashley Hutchings, bass guitar
Simon Nicol, guitars
Dave Swarbrick, violin and viola
Richard Thompson, guitars.


a note:
Tam Lin is probably the best-known of the traditional fairy ballads. In many ways, it is the canonical ballad. Featuring a maid named Janet, the Queen of Elfland, and a handsome hero imprisoned under the Hill; recorded by both Fairport Convention and Steeleye Span; turned into a picture book by Jane Yolen and a coming-of-age novel in the Fairy Tales series by Pamela Dean, it is also the inspiration for a raft of other beloved fantasy novels, including Diana Wynne Jones's Fire and Hemlock, Elizabeth Marie Pope's The Perilous Gard, Dahlov Ipcar's The Queen of Spells, and Patricia McKillip's Winter Rose (which blends the story of Tam Lin with elements of Christina Rossetti's Goblin Market).