mary prout - chords required

Subject: Mary Prout - chords required
From: GUEST,Amber
Date: 27 Oct 08 - 02:22 PM

Hello everyone (and Tom Bliss!)

I was listening to Genevieve Tudor's folk show on Radio Shropshire on Sunday. Tom Bliss sang 'The Sin of Mary Prout' - a wonderful ballad about a young woman who murders her young baby, having conceived 'out of wedlock'. I would so love learn this song, if Tom does not object - does any one PLEASE have the chords.

Amber

Subject: RE: mary prout - chords required
From: sian, west wales
Date: 27 Oct 08 - 02:49 PM

Heavens! I didn't know there was a song. I worked for a TV company in Wales MANY years ago and we did a 6 part drama-doc series on famous murderers in Dyfed ("Dihirod Dyfed"). Mary Prout was the subject of one of the dramas. I'll be interested to see if anyone comes up with the words ...

sian

Subject: RE: mary prout - chords required
From: GUEST,Tom Bliss
Date: 27 Oct 08 - 03:03 PM

I've added added the chords to the lyric page here

And the first few verses and sleeve notes this page

A harrowing tale, but one with some redemption at least.

Tom

Subject: RE: mary prout - chords required
From: GUEST,Amber
Date: 27 Oct 08 - 04:10 PM

Tom - thank you so much. It is such a great song. I really appreciate your trouble. Sian, you're going to be really interested in this. I wished I'd seen your series - were there a LOT of murderers in DYFED?

Amber

Subject: RE: mary prout - chords required
From: sian, west wales
Date: 27 Oct 08 - 05:57 PM

Very very interesting. Actually, it was Bethan, author of the book to which Tom refers, who wrote all the scripts for us. There were 2 series of 6 - so 12 murders covered in all. The most recent, in the second series, were in 1953.

I remember the Mary Prout episode in particular. The Art Dept brought me their weekly receipts which included one for dozens of eggs, lard and stage blood. I asked, 'what the heck were the eggs and lard for' and they said, ' well, you know the birth scene ...' Maybe you don't want to know how they threw in some fake blood and, presto, you've got yourself a very gory birth ... Ingenious, those Art Directors.

Apparently Mary Prout was seriously unlucky. It wasn't at all uncommon for unwed mothers to dispose of infants; I remember one historian telling me the Thames had more than its fair share. Mary was one of the unfortunates who got caught and prosecuted.

Terrible times.

Thanks for the song, Tom.

sian

Subject: RE: mary prout - chords required
From: GUEST,Joe G
Date: 27 Oct 08 - 06:12 PM

What a great connection of stories - thanks everyone - this is why I love t'internet ~ and Tom's songs!

Subject: RE: mary prout - chords required
From: GUEST,Amber
Date: 27 Oct 08 - 07:55 PM

Eggs, lard and stage blood, oh yuk!

On a more serioius note, those were indeed terrible times and as Ton said, one of the saddest things that the poor little girl was just rferred to as 'it'. It is absolutely shocking to think of this type of awful crime happening fairly regularly, yet we can't judge these mothers by today's standards.

Amber

Subject: RE: mary prout - chords required
From: GUEST,Richard
Date: 10 Feb 11 - 04:17 AM

I just wanted to say that I loved the "Dihirod Dyfed" series. I remember watching them in my Welsh class when I was around thirteen. I believe Dic Penderyn was another of the subjects - although I could be wrong.

I'm twenry-eight now and I am Googling frantically (hence finidng this thread that you guys have started) to see if there is any chance of obtaining this series - it's funny how it's only later you appreciate the things we take for granted and I wish that I had the common sense back then to ask if I could have copied the series.

If anyone knows how I can get hold of the Dihirod Dyfed series I would be extrememly grateful.

Many thanks,

Rich

Subject: RE: mary prout - chords required
From: Georgiansilver
Date: 10 Feb 11 - 06:10 AM

Tom Bliss... The Sin of Mary Prout.