Hills of Ardmorn

Scotland has exported more people than any product of its industry. There are descendents of Scots all over the world. There are many songs in the tradition about what happened to them. This great song by the late Roy Williamson reveals a little of what these exiles must have felt for their homeland.

Three Score and Ten

The great storm of 1889 caused much loss of life all along the east coast - as the song says, from Yarmouth down to Scarborough. (The seamen of East Anglia always talk of 'down' for north and 'up' for south). Written by William Delf of Grimsby at the time, I first heard this from the Watersons in about 1968.

The Water is Wide

This is thought to be a Scottish song that has been sung since the 1600s and has seen considerable popularity through to the 21st century. It is related to Child 204 , Jamie Douglas which in turn refers to the unhappy first marriage of James Douglas, 2nd Marquess of Douglas to Lady Barbara Erskine. Cecil Sharp collected a version during his journey to America during World War I.

Lowlands

The song is a bit of a mystery. It has often been found in tradition in Britain and USA but always as a shanty, usually sung while working at the pumps. It is likely that it's a fragment of an Anglo-Scots ballad that lived on among British seamen. In the old days a crew of a merchant ship were often spoken of as “the Johns” so the term “my John” in the ballad is no more personal than “my lad”. My thanks to Bert Lloyd for this information.

Maids When You're Young

Like many traditional songs, its origins seem to be claimed by several nations. All the references I can find say it is Irish, but I thought it was English. Sung with great feeling by Heather.

Dancing at Whitsun

Austin John Marshall wrote the words of this moving song. Many of the old ladies who formed Country Dance Societies in the second half of the 20^th century were 1914/18 war widows, or ladies who had lost fiancés and lovers. Country dancing kept the memory of their young men alive. When Shirley Collins started singing the piece to the tune of The False Bride, the impact was disturbing, for many people in audiences identified with it. We think they still do.

Betsy Bell and Mary Grey

The shortest (by some distance) of the Child Ballads (No. 201), this beautiful song tells the story of two women who thought they could outmanoeuvre the plague. Learned from Steeleye Span who, at various times, have had it in the voices of Maddy Prior and Martin Carthy – must be good then!