VENEREUM ARVUM // Notes & Images
i) The Owld Grey Song (10.33)
(Rachel - singing & organ // Sean - singing, pocket cornet, crow, rabbit, bird // this song comes from various sources though primarily from the singing of the great Jim Eldon // Sean's been singing it since around 1991 when it won him third prize in the Traditional Unaccompanied Male Singing competition at the Rothbury Folk Festival since which time it's steadily taken shape in The Colpitts, Durham, which was where Rachel composed the present vocal counterpoint // thanks to Clive for the linsay & stable verses // live take in essense; cornet dubbed owing to insecurity with accumulated variables)
Aye once he was a young horse / he was a young horse in his prime
And his master used to ride him / and he thought he was very fine
But he's still my own / bonny sweet / who rode so many the mile
Over hedges, ditches, brooks and bridges / gates / and cleared many the stile
Poor old horse / Poor old horse / Oh cherry owld grey
And his legs and his irons / have all gone to decay
Likewise his poor old body / is all withered away
But he's still my own / bonny sweet / who rode so many the mile
Over hedges, ditches, brooks and bridges / gates / and cleared many the stile
Poor old horse / Poor old horse / Oh cherry owld grey
Aye once he wore the clothing / o' the linsay o' so fine
And his eyes they did sparkle / and his mane it did shine
Poor old horse / Poor old horse / Oh cherry owld grey
Out from the warm stable / to the field he has to go
Let it rain, hail or sunshine / or the winds blow high and low
Poor old horse / Poor old horse / Oh cherry owld grey
Oh, he's stealing all my hay / spoiling all my corn
He's ripping at the short grass / that grows against the wall
Poor old horse / Poor old horse / Oh cherry owld grey
They'll beat him, whip him, cut him / Til the huntsman let him go
Poor old horse / Poor old horse / Oh cherry owld grey
Aye once he was a young horse / he was a young horse in his prime
And his master used to ride him / and he thought he was very fine
But he's still my own / bonny sweet / who rode so many the mile
Over hedges, ditches, brooks and bridges / gates / and cleared many the stile
Poor old horse / Poor old horse / Oh cherry owld grey
ii) A Souling Song (8.14)
(Rachel - singing & organ // Sean - singing & crwth // origin; unknown, though there might be a recording by The Watersons somewhere // also features verses from Winter Litany (circa 1982) restored herein for the sake of continuance // like other hallowe'en customs Souling is presumed to originate in the ancestral veneration of pre-Christian times - the meaning not so much lost but reduced to its consummate essense although we do have a recipe for Soul Cakes taken from The Sunday Post, 8th March 1936 // live take - no dubs)
A-soul a-soul a soul cake / Pray good missus a soul cake
An apple a pair a plum or a cherry / Any good thing to make us merry
One for Peter two for Paul / Three for him who made us all
God bless the master of this house and the mistress also
And all the little children that round the table grow
Likewise your men and maidens, your cattle and your store
And all that dwell within this house we wish you ten times more
Winter shall wane / fair weather come again / the sun warm season
the holy king / colour bright changing / black furrow, black wood, the womb
A-soul a-soul a soul cake / Pray good missus a soul cake
An apple a pair a plum or a cherry / Any good thing to make us merry
One for Peter two for Paul / Three for him who made us all
Oh the lanes are very dirty and my shoes are very thin
I've got a little pocket to put a penny in
If you haven't got a penny a ha'panny will do
If you haven't got a ha'penny God. Bless. You.
From grain and stone the kingdom of Christ is one / the fire that burns the sun
Winter shall wane fair weather come again / the sun warm season
A-soul a-soul a soul cake / Pray good missus a soul cake
An apple a pair a plum or a cherry / Any good thing to make us merry
One for Peter two for Paul / Three for him who made us all
iii) The Wax Baby (9.47)
(Rachel - singing & organ // Sean - singing & hummel // a Border Ballad variously known as The Witch Mother or Willie's Lady; this version is set to the melody of a half-remembered Scandinavian lullaby // also features verses from The Ragwort Road as composed by Dancing Jim Weatherspoon, itself featuring verses recorded at the trial of Isabel Gowdie of Allansford, County Durham - the last witch to be executed in these islands // the hummel, by the way, is an antique Swedish zither with two melody strings, four drones & a diatonic finger board - an ancestor of the Appalachian Dulcimer // the Belly Blin is a benign spectre who resides in the hearth & thrives on domestic bliss // live take - no dubs)
Willy's tae'en him ower the fame an he wooed a wife an he's brought her hame
An he wooed her for her gowlden hair but his mother wrought her a meikle care
An miekle dolour gard her drie for lighter can she never be
But in her bower she lies in pain while Willy mourns ower her in vane
Unto his mother then he has gone that vile rank witch o the vilest kin
And he says my lady has a cup wi gowld and silver set about
This goodly gift shall be yer ain let her be light o her young bairn
O of that bairn she'll ne'er be light nor in bower tae shine sae bright
But she will die and turn to clay and ye will wed another may
Anither may I'll never wed, another may I'll ne'er bring hame
But sighing says this weary man I wish my life were at an end
(A riddle now I'll tell to you - it's of a horse that has no shoe;
it's main is of the glittering gold and in the dark earth it was foaled)
Unto his mother then he has gone that vile rank witch o the vilest kin
And he says my lady has a steed the like o which you ne'er did see
For she is gowlden shod before and she is gowden shod behind
And at inlka tet of this horse's mane hangs fifty silver bells and ten
This goodly gift shall be yer ain let her be light o her young bairn
O of that bairn she'll ne'er be light nor in bower tae shine sae bright
But she will die and turn to clay and ye will wed another may
Anither may I'll never wed, another may I'll ne'er bring hame
But sighing says this weary man I wish my life were at an end
(A riddle now to you I'll tell - it's of a horse that has no tail
nor need is there of saddle nor bit nor spur nor whip to take to it)
Then up an spake the Belly Blin and aye he spake in goodly time
Says get ye down unto the market place and there ye buy a loaf o wax
Ye shape it bairn and bairny like and in twa glassen een ye pit
And get ye then tae yer mither again and bid her come to the christening
And ye maun stand a little foreby an listen weel what she do say
(R for the Rowan quick & light, A for the dark sweet aconite,
G is for the grass green goad to ride a weeed the ragwort road)
So Willy's ta'en him unto the market place and there he bought a loaf o wax
An he's shaped it bairn and bairny like and in twa glassen een he pit
And he is away tae his mither then and bid her come to the christening
And he has stood him a little foreby an listened weel what she do say
(horse and pellatis / horse and go / horse and hattock ho ho ho
horse and pellatis / horse and go / horse and hattock ho ho ho)
Who was it undid the nine witch knots I braided in amongst his lady's locks?
Aye and who was took out the combs of care I braided in amongst this lady's hair?
And who was it killed the master kid that ran & slept all beneath her bed?
And who was it unloosed her left foot shoe and letten than lady lighter be?
(W for the witches brew, O for the ointment known to few
R for rune and T for toad as dance we down the ragwort road)
Aye an it was Willy undid the nine witch knots she braided in amongst his lady's locks
Aye an it was Willy took out the combs of care she braided in amongst this lady's hair
And it was Willy killed the master kid that ran & slept all beneath her bed
And it was Willy unloosed her left foot shoe and letten than lady lighter be
And she has born him a bonny young son & miekle praise be them upon
And she has born him a bonny young son an miekle praise be them upon
(horse and pellatis / horse and go / horse and hattock ho ho ho
horse and pellatis / horse and go / horse and hattock ho ho ho)
iv) Veris Dulcis In Tempore (11.06)
(Rachel - singing & drone // Sean - crowd, singing & recitative // an erotic lyric from the 13th Century Codex Buranus ms more commonly known as the Carmina Burana (from which Carl Orff pulled the libretto for his celebrated oratorio) // an earlier version of this piece features on The Proximal No-Age Indo-European Sounds of Sedayne, but here we've honed it down to a drone, voices & crowd (an early type of bowed lyre or crwth) plus a recitative of Sean's transliteration of the Latin lyric // live take - no dubs)
Veris Dulicis in tempore
Florenti stat sub abore
Juliana cum sorore
Dulcis amor
Qui te caret hoc tempore fit vilior
Ecce florescunt arbores
Lascive canunt volucres
Inde tepuscunt virgins
Dulcis amor
Qui te caret hoc tempore fit vilior
Ecce florescunt lilia
Et virgines dant agmina
Summa deorum carmina
Dulcis amor
Qui te caret hoc tempore fit vilior
In weaving spring by blossomed trees
Juliana & her sister see
waiting there so readily
Sweet love
To fail the call to weave with you fails dismally
The trees burst forth in fragrant flower
the song birds wordless greet the hour
these blossomed girls our hearts devour
Sweet love
To fail the call to feast with you fails hungrily
See the lilies bright in flower
the praises girls sing to this hour
to greet divine this wondrous power
Sweet love
To fail the call to praise with you fails woefully
To clasp to skin my joy in love
To mouth with lips and tongue my love
the verdant wood will ring -
Sweet love
Were I fail to satisfy in vain the death I long to die
Si tenerem quam cupio
In nomore sub folio
Oscularer cum gaudio
Dulcis amor
Qui te caret hoc tempore fit vilior
Veris Dulicis in tempore
Florenti stat sub abore
Juliana cum sorore
Dulcis amor
Qui te caret hoc tempore fit vilior
v) The Birth of Robin Hood (8.13)
(Rachel - singing & organ // Sean - singing & hummel // also known as Willie & Earl Richard's Daughter (Child 102A) from Robert Jamieson's Popular Ballads & Songs (Edinburgh 1806) // being without a tune, Sean set this to the melody of the Balladelle Bergeronnette Douce Baisselete by Adam de la Halle (1237-86) from his Le Jeu de Robin et Marion which, whilst not concerning Robin Hood per se, nevertheless prefigures much that we have come to associate with the legend.)
0 Willie's large o' limb and lith and come o' high degree
And he is gane to Earl Richard to serve for meat and fee
Earl Richard had but ae daughter fair as a lily flower and
they made up their love contract Like proper paramour
It fell upon a simmer's nicht when the leaves were fair and green
That Willie met his gay ladie intil the wood alane
'0 narrow is my gown Willie that wont to be sae wide and
gane is a' my fair colour that wont to be my pride
But gin my father should get word what's past between us twa
Before that he should cat or drink he'd hang you o'er that wa'
But ye'll come to my bower, Willie, just as the sun gaes down and
keep me in your arms twa and letna me fa' down
And when the sun was now gane down he's ta'en him till her bower
And there by the lee licht o' the moon her window she lookit o'er
Intill a robe o' red scarlet she lap fearless o' harm and
Willie was large o' lith and limb and keepit her in his arm
And they've gane to the gude green wood and ere the night was deen
She's born to him a bonny young son amang the leaves sae green
When night was gane and day was come the sun began to peep up
and raise the Earl Richard out o' his drowsy sleep
He's ca'd upon his merry young men by ane, by twa, and by three
0 what's come o' my daughter dear that she's nae come to me?
I dreamt a dreary dream last night God grant it come to good I
dreamt I saw my daughter dear drown in the salt sea flood
But gin my daughter be dead or sick or yet be stown away
I make a vow, and I'll keep it true, I'll hang ye ane and a'
They sought her back, they sought fore, they sought her up and down they
got her in the good green wood nursing her bonny young son
He took the bonny boy in his arms an kissed him tenderly
Saying though I would your father hang your mother's dear to me
he's kissed him ower and ower again my grandson I thee claim and
Robin Hood in good green wood that shall be your name
And mony ane sings o' grass o' grass and mony ane sings o' corn
And mony ane sings o' Robin Hood Kens little where he was born
It wasna in the ha', the ha', nor in the painted bower but
it was in the good green wood amang the lily flower
vi) Psalm 31 Verses 3 & 4 (18.38)
(Rachel - singing, organ & processing // Sean - pocket cornet & processing)
I kept it secret and my frame was wasted
I groaned all day long
for night and day your hand
was heavy upon me
enquiries:- venereumarvum@sedayne.co.uk