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Songs feat. standing stones, barrows etc
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Subject: Songs feat. standing stones, barrows etc From: GUEST,BlackAcornUK Date: 23 Sep 23 - 08:18 AM Further to the below, recently exhumed thread on Mr Fox/Ashley Hutchings' 'Salisbury Plain', which other songs - either 'genuinely traditional' (*puts tin hat on*) or idiomatic modern compositions by revivalists, etc - make reference to standing stones, hill forts, chalk figures or other elements of pre-history in the landscape? https://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=163349&messages=5 |
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Subject: RE: Folklore: Songs feat. standing stones, barrows etc From: GUEST,BlackAcornUK Date: 23 Sep 23 - 08:26 AM With wyrd synchronicity, I just learned after posting that today is the autumn equinox. Perhaps the stones have commandeered my magpie mind as a vessel to speak for themselves...! |
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Subject: RE: Folklore: Songs feat. standing stones, barrows etc From: GUEST,Modette Date: 23 Sep 23 - 12:01 PM Probably not what you're looking for, but Traffic's 'Shoot Out at the Fantasy Factory' includes 'Roll Right Stones' (though they're more usually known as the Rollright Stones). Traffic - Roll Right Stones |
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Subject: RE: Folklore: Songs feat. standing stones, barrows etc From: GUEST,iains Date: 23 Sep 23 - 02:01 PM Standing Stones In one of these lone Orkney Isles There dwelled a maiden fair, Her cheeks were red and her eyes were blue She had yellow curling hair. Which caught the eye and then the heart Of one who never could be A lover of so true a maid Or fair a form as she. Across that lake in Sandwick Dwelled a youth she held most true, And ever since her infancy He had watched those eyes so blue. The land runs out into the sea. It's a narrower neck of land. Where weird and grim the standing stones In a circle there they stand. One bonny moonlight Christmas Eve They met at the sad place. With heart of glee and the beams of love Were shining on her face. Her lover came and grasped her hand And what loving words they said. They talked of future's happy days As through the stones they strayed. They walked towards the Lover's Stone And through it passed their hands. They plighted there a constant troth. Sealed by love's steadfast bands. He kissed his maid and he then watched her That lonely bridge go o'er, For little, little did he think He would see his darling more. He turned his face toward his home, That home he never did see. And you shall have the story, As it was told to me. When a form upon him sprang With dagger gleaming bright, It pierced his heart; his dying screams Disturbed the silent night. The murderer was the one who wished That maiden's heart to gain, And unnoticed he had seen them part And he swore he would give her pain. This maid had nearly reached her home, When she was startled by a cry, And she turned to look around her And her love was standing by. His hand was pointing to the stars And his eyes gazed at the light, And with a smiling countenance He vanished from her sight. She gained her home, but well did she know That her faithful love was dead, She spoke to none, but she pined away, Not a smile on her face was seen, And with outstretched arms she went to meet him In a brighter place. Collected by Peter Kennedy in the Orkneys Recorded on Folksongs of Britain Vol 7 SOF |
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Subject: RE: Folklore: Songs feat. standing stones, barrows etc From: GUEST,henryp Date: 23 Sep 23 - 04:11 PM Stanton Drew, where dancers on the Sabbath were turned to stone. The third largest complex of prehistoric standing stones in England, the three circles and three-stone ‘cove’ stand outside the village of Stanton Drew in Somerset. The words of two songs are on the Mudcat thread Lyr Req: Dancers of Stanton Drew / Wedding at ... THE WEDDING AT STANTON DREW THE DANCERS OF STANTON DREW |
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Subject: RE: Folklore: Songs feat. standing stones, barrows etc From: GUEST,henryp Date: 23 Sep 23 - 04:36 PM John Gardner's Ballad of the White Horse (1959) was inspired by Chesterton's epic poem of the same name. It was recently recorded by the City of London Choir, accompanied by the BBC Concert Orchestra, and conducted by Hilary Davan Wetton. Wikipedia David Bedford's Song of the White Horse (1978), set for ensemble and children's choir and commissioned for the BBC's Omnibus programme, depicts a journey along a footpath alongside the Uffington Horse and includes words from Chesterton's poem. Wikipedia |
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Subject: RE: Folklore: Songs feat. standing stones, barrows etc From: Anne Lister Date: 23 Sep 23 - 04:39 PM I have a few modern compositions - Stone Circles, which has been arranged for choirs, even; The Hag of Beara (inspired by a significant rock on the Beara Peninsula in Ireland); Changing Tides (looking at depression and linking it with the fairy mounds). You can hear all of these on Bandcamp. |
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Subject: RE: Folklore: Songs feat. standing stones, barrows etc From: GUEST Date: 23 Sep 23 - 04:52 PM Aoife Ní Fhearraigh - 'If These Stones Could Speak' https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7fTMDmLtOU |
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Subject: RE: Folklore: Songs feat. standing stones, barrows etc From: GUEST Date: 23 Sep 23 - 04:58 PM |
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Subject: RE: Folklore: Songs feat. standing stones, barrows etc From: Dave the Gnome Date: 23 Sep 23 - 05:20 PM Mott the Hoople's "Roll away the stone" Anything by the Rolling Stones :-D |
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Subject: RE: Folklore: Songs feat. standing stones, barrows etc From: Robert B. Waltz Date: 23 Sep 23 - 06:16 PM FWIW, the already-cited ballad of The Standing Stones (Roud #2151) is the only traditional song I have encountered which seems to have a Magical Place of Stones motif. henryp mentioned "Stanton Drew, where dancers on the Sabbath were turned to stone." That song does not appear to be traditional. The story of cursed dancers assuredly is -- relevant motifs in the Thompson index include (and may not be limited to): D1415ff Magic object compels person to dance D2061.1.2 Dancing self to death (to pay devil for clothes) F4331.4 Persons magically caused to dance selves to death Q388.1 Freemasons forced to dance until they sweat blood Q414.4 Dances to death in red-hot shoes (That occurs in the German Cinderella versions!) I don't know of a song about people dancing themselves to stone, but it has been suggested that there was a song version of The Cursed Dancers of Colbeck (I'll put the Ballad Index entry on that one at the end). There is also the tale of "The Friar and the Boy," which has not been collected as a song but is included in the Percy Folio Manuscript ("Ffryar and Boye"), as well as the manuscripts of Richard Calle (source for "Robin Hood and the Potter"; late fifteenth century) and Richard Hill (source for the earliest version of the Corpus Christi Carol; early sixteenth century) among others. There is no question but that The Friar ans the Boy is traditional; the only question is whether it's a song. I summarize the summary by George Steevens: Steevens summarizes "The Friar and the Boy". The boy "suffers from the capricious cruelty of a mother-in-law." A magician gives the boy three gifts: "the first is an unerring bow; the second a pipe which would compel all who heard it to dance; the third must explain itself [makes his mother-in-law fart]." For revenge, mother-in-law employs "the frere ... to persecute the boye" who makes the friar dance until his clothes are shredded. The friar calls in a magistrate for relief. The magistrate, against the friar's warning, asks to hear the boy play; so, the boy "throws all the participants into another fit of dancing, in which the offycyall himself is compelled to join, and the stepdame [sic] exhibits fresh proofs of her flatulency. The tired magistrate at last entreats our hero to suspend his operations, and, on his compliance, immediately reconciles him to his enemies." This is thought by some to be related to "Tom, Tom, the Piper's Son (II)," Roud #19621. This of course has no direct connection to any particular location. But it's where magic forced dancing takes us.... APPENDIX The Cursed Dancers of ColbeckDESCRIPTION: On a Christmas morning, a group of young people gather to carol and dance. A priest, who is saying mass, looks on in disapproval. The young people cannot stop dancing; they dance for a year, until many die or go mad or wander broken in body
Last updated in version 5.3 File: NothCDCo |
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Subject: RE: Folklore: Songs feat. standing stones, barrows etc From: GUEST Date: 23 Sep 23 - 10:22 PM How about this mysterious one... ROLLING OF THE STONES Will you go to the rolling of the stones The tossing of the ball? Or will you go and see pretty Annie And dance among them all I will not go to the rolling of the stones Or the tossing of the ball But I will go and see pretty Annie And dance among them all They hadn't danced but a single dance More than once or twice around Before the sword at her true love's side Gave him his fatal wound They picked him up and carried him away For he was sore distressed They carried him and buried him all in the greenwoods Where he was wont to rest Pretty Annie she came a- wandering by With a tablet under her arm Until she came to her true love's grave And she began to charm She charmed the fish out of the sea And the birds out of their nests She charmed her true love out of his grave So he could no longer rest Will you go to the rolling of the stones Or the dancing of the ball? Or will you go and see pretty Annie And dance among them all I will not go to the rolling of the stones Or the tossing of the ball But I will go and see pretty Annie And dance among them all ___________ Child #49 Fragment of The Two Brothers Sung by Joe Hickerson on "Dull Care I", by the Young Tradition, and by Holly Tannen on "Frosty Morning." I don't know why she has a tablet. |
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Subject: RE: Folklore: Songs feat. standing stones, barrows etc From: GeoffLawes Date: 24 Sep 23 - 04:30 AM THE STANDING STONES - Dave and Toni Arthur https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MoYWEi7TFbk STANDING STONES - Anne Lister https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8DrRNqksOIA |
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Subject: RE: Folklore: Songs feat. standing stones, barrows etc From: GUEST Date: 24 Sep 23 - 05:26 AM There are three circles at Stanton Drew in North East Somerset called 'The Fiddler and the Dancers'. This stimulated Muriel Holland to write words and Jim Parker music for The Dancers of Stanton Drew. (Notes The Cambridge Crofters, 'The Cambridge Crofters') mysongbook.de Cambridge Crofters; Cambridge Crofters LP Barleycorn CR76 Recorded June/July 1976 |
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Subject: RE: Folklore: Songs feat. standing stones, barrows etc From: GUEST,IS Date: 24 Sep 23 - 09:50 AM Re: guest Iains above, thanks for the song information. But please can we call it Orkney or the Orkney Islands rather than 'the Orkneys '? Thanks. |
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Subject: RE: Folklore: Songs feat. standing stones, barrows etc From: Robert B. Waltz Date: 24 Sep 23 - 01:30 PM A guest wrote How about this mysterious one... ROLLING OF THE STONES and asks about the tablet. It's important to note from the start that the text quoted here is inauthentic, and altered in minor but significant ways. Apart from an un-printed fragment in the James Madison Carpenter collection (which I have not seen but is only a fragment, and might even be from the same source as the one authentic text), there is only one text of "The Rolling of the Stones," from a Mary Elwood Harmon, and printed by Linscott: Oh, will you go to the rolling of the stones Or the tossing of the ball? Or will you go and see pretty Susie And dance among them all? I will not go to the rolling of the stones Or the tossing of the ball But I will go and see pretty Susie And dance among them all They had not danced but a single dance More than once or twice around Before the sword by Bell's side Gave him his fatal wound They picked him up and carried him out For he was in distress They carried him and buried him all in the green woods Where he was content to rest Pretty Susie she came mourning by With a tablet on her arm ... ... She charmed the fish out of the sea And the birds out of their nests Until she came where her true love lay, Where he was content to rest. Note the following differences between the traditional text and the text supplied by Guest (as rewritten Holly Tannen, maybe? I don't know, but it sounds like something she might do): first, that the girl is Susie, not Annie; second, that the sword is at "Bell's" side (no idea what that means); third, that Susie does not resurrect her lover -- it's not even clear that she did magic; she might just be such a good dancer that all nature attends her. (I agree that magic is the likeliest explanation, but it isn't axiomatic.) Also, I am not convinced that this is Child #49. The only thing they have in common is the dreadful unintended wound. There is no stepmother, no half-brother, no sporting contest, no helpful excuses by the dying brother. The unintended wound might have drifted in from Child #49 (floating verses happen!), but even that is not a guarantee. But if the rest of the song is not Child #49, or is a graft onto Child #49, then the tablet becomes an element from some other song. Maybe Susie has come from school bearing her tablet. Or maybe, since we have no source for the other song, it's a curse-tablet, even though that is not an Anglo-American tradition. In any case, there isn't much warrant for calling "The Rolling of the Stones" a song about a magical dance or a magical place. Mysterious, yes, given our one damaged text. But that means that we don't have much to go on. :-) |
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Subject: RE: Folklore: Songs feat. standing stones, barrows etc From: GUEST,iains Date: 24 Sep 23 - 05:00 PM ‘Twas in the town of Bandon one fine morning last July, I met an Irish cailín, she winked as she went by. Says I: 'I came from Galway and I'm lonesome and alone, And won't you kindly tell me where I'll find the Blarney Stone?' Says she: 'There's Blarney Stones in Kerry, there's Blarney Stones in Clare, There's Blarney Stones in Dublin, oh, they're plenty in Kildare. There's Blarney Stones in Wicklow, there's a big one in Athlone. Yerra, the devil a town in Ireland but you'll find a Blarney Stone.' Says she: 'I know you come from Galway, I can tell that by your brogue. I never met a Galway man but was an awful rogue! But as long as you're a stranger where the River Shannon flows, The only Blarney Stone I know is underneath my nose.’ And there's Blarney Stones in Kerry, there's Blarney Stones in Clare, There's Blarney Stones in Dublin, oh, they're plenty in Kildare. There's Blarney Stones in Wicklow, there's a big one in Athlone. Yerra, the devil a town in Ireland but you'll find a Blarney Stone. Her Irish smile did broaden, she winked a roguish eye. My heart did start to jump and, oh, I thought I'd surely die. I rolled her in my arms and she never made a moan When I kissed the bloomin' roses from the Bandon Blarney Stone. And there's Blarney Stones in Kerry, there's Blarney Stones in Clare, There's Blarney Stones in Dublin, oh, they're plenty in Kildare. There's Blarney Stones in Wicklow, there's a big one in Athlone. Yerra, the devil a town in Ireland but you'll find a Blarney Stone. "Tom’s version is identical to that sung by street singer Margaret Barry under the title ‘The Bandon Blarney Stone'. Tom Munnelly wrote of it: 'The Bandon Blarney Stone' was published in sheet music form in Walton Musical Galleries in Dublin in 1936 and its authorship ascribed to Seamas Kavanagh. That the song has been doing the rounds considerably earlier than that is proved by the fact that a recording of it was made in America by Shaun O’Nolan ‘The Wicklow Piper’ in 1926. Tom’s 'My Far Down Cailín Bán' was also written by the piper Nolan.'" Reference: Mount Callan Garland, Tom Munnelly, Comhairle Bhéaloideas Eireann, 1994. Jim Carroll |
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Subject: RE: Songs feat. standing stones, barrows etc From: GUEST,henryp Date: 25 Sep 23 - 10:26 AM Childe's Tomb is a granite cross on Dartmoor, Devon, England. Although not in its original form, it is more elaborate than most of the crosses on Dartmoor, being raised upon a constructed base, and it is known that a kistvaen is underneath. The tomb was virtually destroyed in 1812 by a man who stole most of the stones to build a house nearby, but it was partly reconstructed in 1890. A well-known legend attached to the site, first recorded in 1630 by Tristram Risdon, concerns a wealthy hunter, Childe, who became lost in a snow storm and supposedly died there despite disembowelling his horse and climbing into its body for protection. The legend relates that Childe left a note of some sort saying that whoever found and buried his body would inherit his lands at Plymstock. After a race between the monks of Tavistock Abbey and the men of Plymstock, the Abbey won. |
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Subject: RE: Songs feat. standing stones, barrows etc From: GUEST,henryp Date: 25 Sep 23 - 10:52 AM Childe's Tomb continued; Devon folk singer Seth Lakeman sang about Childe the Hunter on his 2006 album Freedom Fields. Dartmoor folk singer Jim Causley sang Childe the Hunter, a traditional song from the Baring Gould Collection, on Songs of Dartmoor 2023. Blackingstone Rock is a tor on east Dartmoor with granite steps erected in the 1870s leading to the top. John Murray in his book ‘A Handbook for Travellers in Devon’ (1879) describes the legend; “The local legend runs that King Arthur and the ‘enemy’ flung quoits at each other from the tops of Heltor and neighbouring Blackstone (seen across the valley), which quoits remain in the shape of the granite that crests them.” Another tale is about a woman who left her baby in the garden while she visited the nearby fair at Moretonhampstead only to discover upon her return that the Ravens of Blackingstone Rock had murdered the poor child. The story was put to verse in 1899 by Sabine Baring Gould as Brennan Moor. Jim Causley recorded this too on Songs of Dartmoor as Blackingstone Ravens. |
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Subject: RE: Songs feat. standing stones, barrows etc From: GUEST,henryp Date: 25 Sep 23 - 11:57 AM The Hurlers stand north of Liskeard near the village of Minions on the southern edge of Bodmin Moor in east Cornwall. Just to the west of the stone circles are two standing stones known as the Pipers. Nearby are Rillaton Barrow and Trethevy Quoit, an entrance grave from the Neolithic period. The name "Hurlers" derives from a legend, in which men were playing Cornish hurling on a Sunday and were magically transformed into stones as punishment. The "Pipers" are supposed to be the figures of two men who played tunes on a Sunday and suffered the same fate. Hurling is still played every year in St Ives and St Columb Major, near Newquay. According to another legend, it is impossible to accurately count the number of standing stones. Seth Lakeman sings The Hurlers 2008 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BI448Nurerg |
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Subject: RE: Songs feat. standing stones, barrows etc From: Robert B. Waltz Date: 25 Sep 23 - 01:28 PM henryp wrote: Childe's Tomb continued; Devon folk singer Seth Lakeman sang about Childe the Hunter on his 2006 album Freedom Fields. Dartmoor folk singer Jim Causley sang Childe the Hunter, a traditional song from the Baring Gould Collection, on Songs of Dartmoor 2023.... The story was put to verse in 1899 by Sabine Baring Gould as Brennan Moor. Can you give a more specific citation? Because I've never seen "Childe the Hunter," and there is no such song in the Roud Index. Or do you mean that it is a traditional tale, and that Baring-Gould made it into a non-traditional song? |
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Subject: RE: Songs feat. standing stones, barrows etc From: Reinhard Date: 25 Sep 23 - 01:58 PM Roud 23155, Childe of Plimstock Baring-Gould Manuscript Collection SBG/1/5/8 |
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Subject: RE: Songs feat. standing stones, barrows etc From: Robert B. Waltz Date: 25 Sep 23 - 02:19 PM Reinhard wrote: Roud 23155, Childe of Plimstock Thank you! |
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Subject: RE: Songs feat. standing stones, barrows etc From: GUEST,henryp Date: 25 Sep 23 - 03:21 PM You can find Childe the Hunter in Songs of the West Folk songs of Devon and Cornwall collected from the mouths of the people by S. Baring Gould, M.A. H. Fleetwood Sheppard, M.A. and F. W. Bussell, Mus. Doc. D.D. This page gives the origin of the verse Brennan Moor; http://www.bluegrassmessengers.com/brennan-moor--bidder-devon-c1890-baring-gould.aspx Brennan Moor - Bidder (Devon) c.1890 Baring-Gould Brennan-Moor (Three ravens they flew over Blackistone) Baring-Gould working notebook 3 Performer: Bidder, Bertha Place: England ; Devon ; Moreton hampstead Collector: Baring-Gould, S. (Sabine), 1834-1924 This version (see text below) was titled Brennan-Moor and collected from Bertha Bidder in Devon (no date given - c.1890) Baring-Gould. One copy was retitled, "The Three Ravens." More properly it could be titled, "Three Ravens They Flew Over Blackistone." We climbed Blackingstone Rock one day. The next evening, we were watching the series Cold Feet on television. In the final scene, the camera rose from the actors to reveal the location as the top of Blackingstone Rock. My cousin was a location finder for the production company. |
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Subject: RE: Songs feat. standing stones, barrows etc From: GUEST,henryp Date: 25 Sep 23 - 04:19 PM Or do you mean that it is a traditional tale, and that Baring-Gould made it into a non-traditional song? I think it more likely that Childe the Hunter is a traditional tale, the Childe of Plymstock - Childe was a mediaeval title for a young man who was a candidate for knighthood - rewritten first by Jonas Coaker of Postbridge and then again by Baring Gould, but set to a traditional tune. The words were taken in a fragmentary form from Jonas Coaker, who "vastly preferred his own doggerel to what was traditional". However, the Notes on the Songs consider the tune to be "unquestionably an early harp tune, not later than the reign of Henry VII". |
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Subject: RE: Songs feat. standing stones, barrows etc From: Robert B. Waltz Date: 25 Sep 23 - 05:50 PM henryp wrote: The words were taken in a fragmentary form from Jonas Coaker, who "vastly preferred his own doggerel to what was traditional". But at least we can see what Baring-Gould was talking about. :-) My problem was the lack of a pointer, because there are a lot of Baring-Gould sources and Steve Roud didn't have the title. Thanks for clarifying. |
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Subject: RE: Songs feat. standing stones, barrows etc From: GUEST,BlackAcornUK Date: 26 Sep 23 - 10:12 AM Many, many thanks for all these suggestions, and wider discussion - extremely interesting. Bless you all! |
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Subject: RE: Songs feat. standing stones, barrows etc From: GUEST Date: 26 Sep 23 - 11:06 AM I saw song(s) about Lough Gur mentioned elsewhere, not sure the stone circle gets a mention though. |
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Subject: RE: Songs feat. standing stones, barrows etc From: GUEST Date: 27 Sep 23 - 02:13 PM www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-d&q=song+about+the+stones+in+the+borlin#fpstate=ive&ip=1&vld=cid:3c682853,vid:O5pyTRhVyQQ |
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Subject: RE: Songs feat. standing stones, barrows etc From: GUEST,henryp Date: 28 Sep 23 - 04:40 PM The Stones of Callanish A Folk Opera by Les Barker Mrs Ackroyd Records DOG 005/6 (2 LP/CD, UK, 1989) All the music is traditional. English words by Les Barker. Gaelic words by Simon MacKenzie. Harp arrangements by Savourna Stevenson. Guitar arrangements by Rod Paterson, except track 6 by Nick Dow & Bernard Wrigley and track 9 by Nick Dow. |
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Subject: RE: Songs feat. standing stones, barrows etc From: GUEST,henryp Date: 28 Sep 23 - 04:57 PM Clannad Newgrange There is a place on the east Mysterious ring, magical ring of stones The druids lived here once they said Forgotten is the race that no one knows Circled tomb of a different age Secret lines carved on ancient stone Heroic Kings laid down to rest Forgotten is the race that no one knows Wait for the sun on a winter's day Beam of light shines across the floor Mysterious ring, magical ring But forgotten is the race that no one knows Banba Oir Lyrics translation Ring forts of rock The magic of the druids Tombs of kings In Golden Ireland |
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Subject: RE: Songs feat. standing stones, barrows etc From: GUEST,henryp Date: 28 Sep 23 - 05:15 PM Avebury (The Journey) by Car Dia Original song © Susan Marie Paramor Did you know and did you say that you had walked a long long way Over rolling downs through lush green grass To make your way to Avebury To make your way to Avebury Round the barrow long hold the Goddess strong Passed Silbury hill masculinity All seeing Sul will guide you there To make your way to Avebury To make your way to Avebury |
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Subject: RE: Songs feat. standing stones, barrows etc From: GUEST,henryp Date: 28 Sep 23 - 05:33 PM BBC Countryfile https://www.countryfile.com/go-outdoors/days-out/neolithic-sites-deliver-musical-inspiration There are few prehistoric structures more illustrious than Stonehenge. Yet, England's south-west is peppered with Neolithic monuments, each as intriguing as the next. Indeed, so important are the sites, that many musicians have found inspiration in from their existence, from Peter Gabriel to Traffic. Discover four lesser-known Neolithic sites with songs to accompany, all within 35 miles of Stonehenge. |
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Subject: RE: Songs feat. standing stones, barrows etc From: GUEST,henryp Date: 28 Sep 23 - 05:59 PM Snow in Summer (main theme song) A summer's day in Skara Brae became a wint'ry night. Foes from below, blood on the snow, Bright crimson on white. A mad man's story of ancient glory brought death from far away, For eldritch power did Mangar scour The depths of Skara Brae. Snow in summer, ice in my heart Death's cold fingers tear us apart Snow in summer, ice in my heart Death's cold fingers tear us apart Source: BardsTaleOnline (. com) - The Bard's Tale IV Barrows Deep Original Soundtrack Performed by John Morran / Fiona Hunter Composed by Ged Grimes / Gregor Philp / Nathan Long |
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Subject: Songs feat. standing stones, barrows etc From: GUEST,BlackAcornUK Date: 23 Sep 23 - 08:18 AM Further to the below, recently exhumed thread on Mr Fox/Ashley Hutchings' 'Salisbury Plain', which other songs - either 'genuinely traditional' (*puts tin hat on*) or idiomatic modern compositions by revivalists, etc - make reference to standing stones, hill forts, chalk figures or other elements of pre-history in the landscape? https://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=163349&messages=5 |
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Subject: RE: Folklore: Songs feat. standing stones, barrows etc From: GUEST,BlackAcornUK Date: 23 Sep 23 - 08:26 AM With wyrd synchronicity, I just learned after posting that today is the autumn equinox. Perhaps the stones have commandeered my magpie mind as a vessel to speak for themselves...! |
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Subject: RE: Folklore: Songs feat. standing stones, barrows etc From: GUEST,Modette Date: 23 Sep 23 - 12:01 PM Probably not what you're looking for, but Traffic's 'Shoot Out at the Fantasy Factory' includes 'Roll Right Stones' (though they're more usually known as the Rollright Stones). Traffic - Roll Right Stones |
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Subject: RE: Folklore: Songs feat. standing stones, barrows etc From: GUEST,iains Date: 23 Sep 23 - 02:01 PM Standing Stones In one of these lone Orkney Isles There dwelled a maiden fair, Her cheeks were red and her eyes were blue She had yellow curling hair. Which caught the eye and then the heart Of one who never could be A lover of so true a maid Or fair a form as she. Across that lake in Sandwick Dwelled a youth she held most true, And ever since her infancy He had watched those eyes so blue. The land runs out into the sea. It's a narrower neck of land. Where weird and grim the standing stones In a circle there they stand. One bonny moonlight Christmas Eve They met at the sad place. With heart of glee and the beams of love Were shining on her face. Her lover came and grasped her hand And what loving words they said. They talked of future's happy days As through the stones they strayed. They walked towards the Lover's Stone And through it passed their hands. They plighted there a constant troth. Sealed by love's steadfast bands. He kissed his maid and he then watched her That lonely bridge go o'er, For little, little did he think He would see his darling more. He turned his face toward his home, That home he never did see. And you shall have the story, As it was told to me. When a form upon him sprang With dagger gleaming bright, It pierced his heart; his dying screams Disturbed the silent night. The murderer was the one who wished That maiden's heart to gain, And unnoticed he had seen them part And he swore he would give her pain. This maid had nearly reached her home, When she was startled by a cry, And she turned to look around her And her love was standing by. His hand was pointing to the stars And his eyes gazed at the light, And with a smiling countenance He vanished from her sight. She gained her home, but well did she know That her faithful love was dead, She spoke to none, but she pined away, Not a smile on her face was seen, And with outstretched arms she went to meet him In a brighter place. Collected by Peter Kennedy in the Orkneys Recorded on Folksongs of Britain Vol 7 SOF |
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Subject: RE: Folklore: Songs feat. standing stones, barrows etc From: GUEST,henryp Date: 23 Sep 23 - 04:11 PM Stanton Drew, where dancers on the Sabbath were turned to stone. The third largest complex of prehistoric standing stones in England, the three circles and three-stone ‘cove’ stand outside the village of Stanton Drew in Somerset. The words of two songs are on the Mudcat thread Lyr Req: Dancers of Stanton Drew / Wedding at ... THE WEDDING AT STANTON DREW THE DANCERS OF STANTON DREW |
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Subject: RE: Folklore: Songs feat. standing stones, barrows etc From: GUEST,henryp Date: 23 Sep 23 - 04:36 PM John Gardner's Ballad of the White Horse (1959) was inspired by Chesterton's epic poem of the same name. It was recently recorded by the City of London Choir, accompanied by the BBC Concert Orchestra, and conducted by Hilary Davan Wetton. Wikipedia David Bedford's Song of the White Horse (1978), set for ensemble and children's choir and commissioned for the BBC's Omnibus programme, depicts a journey along a footpath alongside the Uffington Horse and includes words from Chesterton's poem. Wikipedia |
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Subject: RE: Folklore: Songs feat. standing stones, barrows etc From: GUEST Date: 23 Sep 23 - 04:52 PM Aoife Ní Fhearraigh - 'If These Stones Could Speak' https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7fTMDmLtOU |
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Subject: RE: Folklore: Songs feat. standing stones, barrows etc From: GUEST Date: 23 Sep 23 - 04:58 PM |
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Subject: RE: Folklore: Songs feat. standing stones, barrows etc From: GUEST Date: 23 Sep 23 - 10:22 PM How about this mysterious one... ROLLING OF THE STONES Will you go to the rolling of the stones The tossing of the ball? Or will you go and see pretty Annie And dance among them all I will not go to the rolling of the stones Or the tossing of the ball But I will go and see pretty Annie And dance among them all They hadn't danced but a single dance More than once or twice around Before the sword at her true love's side Gave him his fatal wound They picked him up and carried him away For he was sore distressed They carried him and buried him all in the greenwoods Where he was wont to rest Pretty Annie she came a- wandering by With a tablet under her arm Until she came to her true love's grave And she began to charm She charmed the fish out of the sea And the birds out of their nests She charmed her true love out of his grave So he could no longer rest Will you go to the rolling of the stones Or the dancing of the ball? Or will you go and see pretty Annie And dance among them all I will not go to the rolling of the stones Or the tossing of the ball But I will go and see pretty Annie And dance among them all ___________ Child #49 Fragment of The Two Brothers Sung by Joe Hickerson on "Dull Care I", by the Young Tradition, and by Holly Tannen on "Frosty Morning." I don't know why she has a tablet. |
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Subject: RE: Folklore: Songs feat. standing stones, barrows etc From: GUEST Date: 24 Sep 23 - 05:26 AM There are three circles at Stanton Drew in North East Somerset called 'The Fiddler and the Dancers'. This stimulated Muriel Holland to write words and Jim Parker music for The Dancers of Stanton Drew. (Notes The Cambridge Crofters, 'The Cambridge Crofters') mysongbook.de Cambridge Crofters; Cambridge Crofters LP Barleycorn CR76 Recorded June/July 1976 |
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Subject: RE: Folklore: Songs feat. standing stones, barrows etc From: GUEST,IS Date: 24 Sep 23 - 09:50 AM Re: guest Iains above, thanks for the song information. But please can we call it Orkney or the Orkney Islands rather than 'the Orkneys '? Thanks. |
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Subject: RE: Folklore: Songs feat. standing stones, barrows etc From: GUEST,iains Date: 24 Sep 23 - 05:00 PM ‘Twas in the town of Bandon one fine morning last July, I met an Irish cailín, she winked as she went by. Says I: 'I came from Galway and I'm lonesome and alone, And won't you kindly tell me where I'll find the Blarney Stone?' Says she: 'There's Blarney Stones in Kerry, there's Blarney Stones in Clare, There's Blarney Stones in Dublin, oh, they're plenty in Kildare. There's Blarney Stones in Wicklow, there's a big one in Athlone. Yerra, the devil a town in Ireland but you'll find a Blarney Stone.' Says she: 'I know you come from Galway, I can tell that by your brogue. I never met a Galway man but was an awful rogue! But as long as you're a stranger where the River Shannon flows, The only Blarney Stone I know is underneath my nose.’ And there's Blarney Stones in Kerry, there's Blarney Stones in Clare, There's Blarney Stones in Dublin, oh, they're plenty in Kildare. There's Blarney Stones in Wicklow, there's a big one in Athlone. Yerra, the devil a town in Ireland but you'll find a Blarney Stone. Her Irish smile did broaden, she winked a roguish eye. My heart did start to jump and, oh, I thought I'd surely die. I rolled her in my arms and she never made a moan When I kissed the bloomin' roses from the Bandon Blarney Stone. And there's Blarney Stones in Kerry, there's Blarney Stones in Clare, There's Blarney Stones in Dublin, oh, they're plenty in Kildare. There's Blarney Stones in Wicklow, there's a big one in Athlone. Yerra, the devil a town in Ireland but you'll find a Blarney Stone. "Tom’s version is identical to that sung by street singer Margaret Barry under the title ‘The Bandon Blarney Stone'. Tom Munnelly wrote of it: 'The Bandon Blarney Stone' was published in sheet music form in Walton Musical Galleries in Dublin in 1936 and its authorship ascribed to Seamas Kavanagh. That the song has been doing the rounds considerably earlier than that is proved by the fact that a recording of it was made in America by Shaun O’Nolan ‘The Wicklow Piper’ in 1926. Tom’s 'My Far Down Cailín Bán' was also written by the piper Nolan.'" Reference: Mount Callan Garland, Tom Munnelly, Comhairle Bhéaloideas Eireann, 1994. Jim Carroll |
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Subject: RE: Songs feat. standing stones, barrows etc From: GUEST,henryp Date: 25 Sep 23 - 10:26 AM Childe's Tomb is a granite cross on Dartmoor, Devon, England. Although not in its original form, it is more elaborate than most of the crosses on Dartmoor, being raised upon a constructed base, and it is known that a kistvaen is underneath. The tomb was virtually destroyed in 1812 by a man who stole most of the stones to build a house nearby, but it was partly reconstructed in 1890. A well-known legend attached to the site, first recorded in 1630 by Tristram Risdon, concerns a wealthy hunter, Childe, who became lost in a snow storm and supposedly died there despite disembowelling his horse and climbing into its body for protection. The legend relates that Childe left a note of some sort saying that whoever found and buried his body would inherit his lands at Plymstock. After a race between the monks of Tavistock Abbey and the men of Plymstock, the Abbey won. |
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Subject: RE: Songs feat. standing stones, barrows etc From: GUEST,henryp Date: 25 Sep 23 - 10:52 AM Childe's Tomb continued; Devon folk singer Seth Lakeman sang about Childe the Hunter on his 2006 album Freedom Fields. Dartmoor folk singer Jim Causley sang Childe the Hunter, a traditional song from the Baring Gould Collection, on Songs of Dartmoor 2023. Blackingstone Rock is a tor on east Dartmoor with granite steps erected in the 1870s leading to the top. John Murray in his book ‘A Handbook for Travellers in Devon’ (1879) describes the legend; “The local legend runs that King Arthur and the ‘enemy’ flung quoits at each other from the tops of Heltor and neighbouring Blackstone (seen across the valley), which quoits remain in the shape of the granite that crests them.” Another tale is about a woman who left her baby in the garden while she visited the nearby fair at Moretonhampstead only to discover upon her return that the Ravens of Blackingstone Rock had murdered the poor child. The story was put to verse in 1899 by Sabine Baring Gould as Brennan Moor. Jim Causley recorded this too on Songs of Dartmoor as Blackingstone Ravens. |
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Subject: RE: Songs feat. standing stones, barrows etc From: GUEST,henryp Date: 25 Sep 23 - 11:57 AM The Hurlers stand north of Liskeard near the village of Minions on the southern edge of Bodmin Moor in east Cornwall. Just to the west of the stone circles are two standing stones known as the Pipers. Nearby are Rillaton Barrow and Trethevy Quoit, an entrance grave from the Neolithic period. The name "Hurlers" derives from a legend, in which men were playing Cornish hurling on a Sunday and were magically transformed into stones as punishment. The "Pipers" are supposed to be the figures of two men who played tunes on a Sunday and suffered the same fate. Hurling is still played every year in St Ives and St Columb Major, near Newquay. According to another legend, it is impossible to accurately count the number of standing stones. Seth Lakeman sings The Hurlers 2008 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BI448Nurerg |
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Subject: RE: Songs feat. standing stones, barrows etc From: GUEST,henryp Date: 25 Sep 23 - 03:21 PM You can find Childe the Hunter in Songs of the West Folk songs of Devon and Cornwall collected from the mouths of the people by S. Baring Gould, M.A. H. Fleetwood Sheppard, M.A. and F. W. Bussell, Mus. Doc. D.D. This page gives the origin of the verse Brennan Moor; http://www.bluegrassmessengers.com/brennan-moor--bidder-devon-c1890-baring-gould.aspx Brennan Moor - Bidder (Devon) c.1890 Baring-Gould Brennan-Moor (Three ravens they flew over Blackistone) Baring-Gould working notebook 3 Performer: Bidder, Bertha Place: England ; Devon ; Moreton hampstead Collector: Baring-Gould, S. (Sabine), 1834-1924 This version (see text below) was titled Brennan-Moor and collected from Bertha Bidder in Devon (no date given - c.1890) Baring-Gould. One copy was retitled, "The Three Ravens." More properly it could be titled, "Three Ravens They Flew Over Blackistone." We climbed Blackingstone Rock one day. The next evening, we were watching the series Cold Feet on television. In the final scene, the camera rose from the actors to reveal the location as the top of Blackingstone Rock. My cousin was a location finder for the production company. |
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Subject: RE: Songs feat. standing stones, barrows etc From: GUEST,henryp Date: 25 Sep 23 - 04:19 PM Or do you mean that it is a traditional tale, and that Baring-Gould made it into a non-traditional song? I think it more likely that Childe the Hunter is a traditional tale, the Childe of Plymstock - Childe was a mediaeval title for a young man who was a candidate for knighthood - rewritten first by Jonas Coaker of Postbridge and then again by Baring Gould, but set to a traditional tune. The words were taken in a fragmentary form from Jonas Coaker, who "vastly preferred his own doggerel to what was traditional". However, the Notes on the Songs consider the tune to be "unquestionably an early harp tune, not later than the reign of Henry VII". |
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Subject: RE: Songs feat. standing stones, barrows etc From: GUEST,BlackAcornUK Date: 26 Sep 23 - 10:12 AM Many, many thanks for all these suggestions, and wider discussion - extremely interesting. Bless you all! |
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Subject: RE: Songs feat. standing stones, barrows etc From: GUEST Date: 26 Sep 23 - 11:06 AM I saw song(s) about Lough Gur mentioned elsewhere, not sure the stone circle gets a mention though. |
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Subject: RE: Songs feat. standing stones, barrows etc From: GUEST Date: 27 Sep 23 - 02:13 PM www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-d&q=song+about+the+stones+in+the+borlin#fpstate=ive&ip=1&vld=cid:3c682853,vid:O5pyTRhVyQQ |
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Subject: RE: Songs feat. standing stones, barrows etc From: GUEST,henryp Date: 28 Sep 23 - 04:40 PM The Stones of Callanish A Folk Opera by Les Barker Mrs Ackroyd Records DOG 005/6 (2 LP/CD, UK, 1989) All the music is traditional. English words by Les Barker. Gaelic words by Simon MacKenzie. Harp arrangements by Savourna Stevenson. Guitar arrangements by Rod Paterson, except track 6 by Nick Dow & Bernard Wrigley and track 9 by Nick Dow. |
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Subject: RE: Songs feat. standing stones, barrows etc From: GUEST,henryp Date: 28 Sep 23 - 04:57 PM Clannad Newgrange There is a place on the east Mysterious ring, magical ring of stones The druids lived here once they said Forgotten is the race that no one knows Circled tomb of a different age Secret lines carved on ancient stone Heroic Kings laid down to rest Forgotten is the race that no one knows Wait for the sun on a winter's day Beam of light shines across the floor Mysterious ring, magical ring But forgotten is the race that no one knows Banba Oir Lyrics translation Ring forts of rock The magic of the druids Tombs of kings In Golden Ireland |
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Subject: RE: Songs feat. standing stones, barrows etc From: GUEST,henryp Date: 28 Sep 23 - 05:15 PM Avebury (The Journey) by Car Dia Original song © Susan Marie Paramor Did you know and did you say that you had walked a long long way Over rolling downs through lush green grass To make your way to Avebury To make your way to Avebury Round the barrow long hold the Goddess strong Passed Silbury hill masculinity All seeing Sul will guide you there To make your way to Avebury To make your way to Avebury |
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Subject: RE: Songs feat. standing stones, barrows etc From: GUEST,henryp Date: 28 Sep 23 - 05:33 PM BBC Countryfile https://www.countryfile.com/go-outdoors/days-out/neolithic-sites-deliver-musical-inspiration There are few prehistoric structures more illustrious than Stonehenge. Yet, England's south-west is peppered with Neolithic monuments, each as intriguing as the next. Indeed, so important are the sites, that many musicians have found inspiration in from their existence, from Peter Gabriel to Traffic. Discover four lesser-known Neolithic sites with songs to accompany, all within 35 miles of Stonehenge. |
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Subject: RE: Songs feat. standing stones, barrows etc From: GUEST,henryp Date: 28 Sep 23 - 05:59 PM Snow in Summer (main theme song) A summer's day in Skara Brae became a wint'ry night. Foes from below, blood on the snow, Bright crimson on white. A mad man's story of ancient glory brought death from far away, For eldritch power did Mangar scour The depths of Skara Brae. Snow in summer, ice in my heart Death's cold fingers tear us apart Snow in summer, ice in my heart Death's cold fingers tear us apart Source: BardsTaleOnline (. com) - The Bard's Tale IV Barrows Deep Original Soundtrack Performed by John Morran / Fiona Hunter Composed by Ged Grimes / Gregor Philp / Nathan Long |
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Subject: RE: Folklore: Songs feat. standing stones, barrows etc From: Dave the Gnome Date: 23 Sep 23 - 05:20 PM Mott the Hoople's "Roll away the stone" Anything by the Rolling Stones :-D |
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Subject: RE: Folklore: Songs feat. standing stones, barrows etc From: GeoffLawes Date: 24 Sep 23 - 04:30 AM THE STANDING STONES - Dave and Toni Arthur https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MoYWEi7TFbk STANDING STONES - Anne Lister https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8DrRNqksOIA |
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Subject: RE: Songs feat. standing stones, barrows etc From: Reinhard Date: 25 Sep 23 - 01:58 PM Roud 23155, Childe of Plimstock Baring-Gould Manuscript Collection SBG/1/5/8 |
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Subject: RE: Folklore: Songs feat. standing stones, barrows etc From: Anne Lister Date: 23 Sep 23 - 04:39 PM I have a few modern compositions - Stone Circles, which has been arranged for choirs, even; The Hag of Beara (inspired by a significant rock on the Beara Peninsula in Ireland); Changing Tides (looking at depression and linking it with the fairy mounds). You can hear all of these on Bandcamp. |
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Subject: RE: Folklore: Songs feat. standing stones, barrows etc From: Robert B. Waltz Date: 23 Sep 23 - 06:16 PM FWIW, the already-cited ballad of The Standing Stones (Roud #2151) is the only traditional song I have encountered which seems to have a Magical Place of Stones motif. henryp mentioned "Stanton Drew, where dancers on the Sabbath were turned to stone." That song does not appear to be traditional. The story of cursed dancers assuredly is -- relevant motifs in the Thompson index include (and may not be limited to): D1415ff Magic object compels person to dance D2061.1.2 Dancing self to death (to pay devil for clothes) F4331.4 Persons magically caused to dance selves to death Q388.1 Freemasons forced to dance until they sweat blood Q414.4 Dances to death in red-hot shoes (That occurs in the German Cinderella versions!) I don't know of a song about people dancing themselves to stone, but it has been suggested that there was a song version of The Cursed Dancers of Colbeck (I'll put the Ballad Index entry on that one at the end). There is also the tale of "The Friar and the Boy," which has not been collected as a song but is included in the Percy Folio Manuscript ("Ffryar and Boye"), as well as the manuscripts of Richard Calle (source for "Robin Hood and the Potter"; late fifteenth century) and Richard Hill (source for the earliest version of the Corpus Christi Carol; early sixteenth century) among others. There is no question but that The Friar ans the Boy is traditional; the only question is whether it's a song. I summarize the summary by George Steevens: Steevens summarizes "The Friar and the Boy". The boy "suffers from the capricious cruelty of a mother-in-law." A magician gives the boy three gifts: "the first is an unerring bow; the second a pipe which would compel all who heard it to dance; the third must explain itself [makes his mother-in-law fart]." For revenge, mother-in-law employs "the frere ... to persecute the boye" who makes the friar dance until his clothes are shredded. The friar calls in a magistrate for relief. The magistrate, against the friar's warning, asks to hear the boy play; so, the boy "throws all the participants into another fit of dancing, in which the offycyall himself is compelled to join, and the stepdame [sic] exhibits fresh proofs of her flatulency. The tired magistrate at last entreats our hero to suspend his operations, and, on his compliance, immediately reconciles him to his enemies." This is thought by some to be related to "Tom, Tom, the Piper's Son (II)," Roud #19621. This of course has no direct connection to any particular location. But it's where magic forced dancing takes us.... APPENDIX The Cursed Dancers of ColbeckDESCRIPTION: On a Christmas morning, a group of young people gather to carol and dance. A priest, who is saying mass, looks on in disapproval. The young people cannot stop dancing; they dance for a year, until many die or go mad or wander broken in body
Last updated in version 5.3 File: NothCDCo |
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Subject: RE: Folklore: Songs feat. standing stones, barrows etc From: Robert B. Waltz Date: 24 Sep 23 - 01:30 PM A guest wrote How about this mysterious one... ROLLING OF THE STONES and asks about the tablet. It's important to note from the start that the text quoted here is inauthentic, and altered in minor but significant ways. Apart from an un-printed fragment in the James Madison Carpenter collection (which I have not seen but is only a fragment, and might even be from the same source as the one authentic text), there is only one text of "The Rolling of the Stones," from a Mary Elwood Harmon, and printed by Linscott: Oh, will you go to the rolling of the stones Or the tossing of the ball? Or will you go and see pretty Susie And dance among them all? I will not go to the rolling of the stones Or the tossing of the ball But I will go and see pretty Susie And dance among them all They had not danced but a single dance More than once or twice around Before the sword by Bell's side Gave him his fatal wound They picked him up and carried him out For he was in distress They carried him and buried him all in the green woods Where he was content to rest Pretty Susie she came mourning by With a tablet on her arm ... ... She charmed the fish out of the sea And the birds out of their nests Until she came where her true love lay, Where he was content to rest. Note the following differences between the traditional text and the text supplied by Guest (as rewritten Holly Tannen, maybe? I don't know, but it sounds like something she might do): first, that the girl is Susie, not Annie; second, that the sword is at "Bell's" side (no idea what that means); third, that Susie does not resurrect her lover -- it's not even clear that she did magic; she might just be such a good dancer that all nature attends her. (I agree that magic is the likeliest explanation, but it isn't axiomatic.) Also, I am not convinced that this is Child #49. The only thing they have in common is the dreadful unintended wound. There is no stepmother, no half-brother, no sporting contest, no helpful excuses by the dying brother. The unintended wound might have drifted in from Child #49 (floating verses happen!), but even that is not a guarantee. But if the rest of the song is not Child #49, or is a graft onto Child #49, then the tablet becomes an element from some other song. Maybe Susie has come from school bearing her tablet. Or maybe, since we have no source for the other song, it's a curse-tablet, even though that is not an Anglo-American tradition. In any case, there isn't much warrant for calling "The Rolling of the Stones" a song about a magical dance or a magical place. Mysterious, yes, given our one damaged text. But that means that we don't have much to go on. :-) |
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Subject: RE: Songs feat. standing stones, barrows etc From: Robert B. Waltz Date: 25 Sep 23 - 01:28 PM henryp wrote: Childe's Tomb continued; Devon folk singer Seth Lakeman sang about Childe the Hunter on his 2006 album Freedom Fields. Dartmoor folk singer Jim Causley sang Childe the Hunter, a traditional song from the Baring Gould Collection, on Songs of Dartmoor 2023.... The story was put to verse in 1899 by Sabine Baring Gould as Brennan Moor. Can you give a more specific citation? Because I've never seen "Childe the Hunter," and there is no such song in the Roud Index. Or do you mean that it is a traditional tale, and that Baring-Gould made it into a non-traditional song? |
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Subject: RE: Songs feat. standing stones, barrows etc From: Robert B. Waltz Date: 25 Sep 23 - 02:19 PM Reinhard wrote: Roud 23155, Childe of Plimstock Thank you! |
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Subject: RE: Songs feat. standing stones, barrows etc From: Robert B. Waltz Date: 25 Sep 23 - 05:50 PM henryp wrote: The words were taken in a fragmentary form from Jonas Coaker, who "vastly preferred his own doggerel to what was traditional". But at least we can see what Baring-Gould was talking about. :-) My problem was the lack of a pointer, because there are a lot of Baring-Gould sources and Steve Roud didn't have the title. Thanks for clarifying. |
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