Origins: Cold Haily Rainy Night

Subject: RE: Origins: Cold Haily Rainy Night
From: Gordon Jackson
Date: 17 Feb 21 - 05:19 AM

I actually agree with everything you say, but that doesn’t negate my points! Yes, sometimes a melody will suggest certain chords. Take a tune like The Soldier’s Joy: in the first bar it’s practically impossible to play anything other than D major (the melody notes being A, F#, D, F#, A, F#, D, F#, A, D, D), but with the second bar ending with crotchets G, E,E, do you play Em , A7 or something else? (I’d be more likely to play A5).

Subject: RE: Origins: Cold Haily Rainy Night
From: GUEST,James Phillips
Date: 16 Feb 21 - 09:44 AM

The whole subject of chords to folk tunes is controversial. I've heard heated discussions about guitarists playing the wrong chords or "trying to be too fancy" when accompanying sessions, with the more traditional players insisting that many tunes have really obvious simple chords which shouldn't be strayed from. And while it's true that folk melodies can be harmonized in wildly different ways (just listen to Andy Irvine's crazy chords in his version of Captain Thunderbolt ), there does seem to emerge a "consensus" for some songs, and certain melody fragments overwhelmingly suggest certain chords over others.

Subject: RE: Origins: Cold Haily Rainy Night
From: Gordon Jackson
Date: 16 Feb 21 - 05:47 AM

I have to admit, I dislike the idea of ‘the chords’ to a particular song; in most cases what people want are the chords used in a particular version. Rarely can only one set of chords be applied to a given melody. Even when it follows an arpeggiated pattern, alternatives can often be used. Moreover, instead of just boom-chinging along in a predictable fashion, using drones, 5th chords, bits of melody and counter-melody, discords etc, are often more effective, particularly in traditional songs. (To be fair to the OP, all those twenty-seven years ago, she simply asked for chords – mine is a more general point.)

I too really like Martin Carthy’s version from Landfall (a vastly underrated album, in my view).

Subject: RE: Chord Req: Cold Haily Rainy Night
From: GUEST,James Phillips
Date: 15 Feb 21 - 09:46 PM

I did a guitar arrangement to accompany Let Me In This Ae Nicht a while back, it's in DADGAD and for the intermediate/advanced fingerpicking guitarist! Goes great with the melody when sung. Might as well stick it on here in case someone is ever inclined to give it a spin.

Martin Carthy's solo version of Cold Hailey Rainy Night was always the best in my mind. I love how you can hear him sort of grunting along with the melody during his instrumental guitar breaks. Pure folk.

Subject: RE: Chord Req: Cold Haily Rainy Night
From: Joe Offer
Date: 15 Feb 21 - 06:52 PM

needs cleanup - Wendy Grossman sang this today.

https://timchesterton.bandcamp.com/track/cold-blow-and-the-rainy-night

Subject: RE: Chord Req: Cold Haily Rainy Night
From: GUEST,Lavengro
Date: 22 Mar 13 - 05:48 AM

autoharpbob: "Anyone else love the "Imagined Village" version of this with tablas and sitars?"

I love their version of it! Johnny Kalsi thundering away on the dhol to kick things off, and Eliza Carthy and Chris Wood sharing the vocals. Fantastic stuff; been lucky enough to see them a couple of times, don't have the words to do them justice really.

Fair play to Simon Emmerson, two world music "supergroups" under his belt that actually work and are very much more than the sum of their parts.

Subject: Lyr Add: COLD HAILY RAINY NIGHT (from Bodleian)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 21 Mar 13 - 08:11 PM

This is a bit different from the versions in the DT:

From the Bodleian broadside collection, Harding B 16(54a):


COLD HAILY RAINY NIGHT

A story unto you I tell
Of a soldier who courted a pretty girl
And soon he gained her favour, O.
O let me in, the soldier cried.
It's a cold haily rainy night,
And I won't go back again, O.

My cap is froze unto my head.
My heart is like a lump of lead
With standing under the window, O.
O let me in, the soldier cried.
It's a cold haily rainy night,
And I won't go back again, O.

Your dad and mam are fast asleep,
Which makes me under your window creep.
The doors and windows they do creak, O.
O let me in, the soldier cries.
It's a cold haily rainy night,
And I won't go back again, O.

O then she rose and let him in,
And kissed his ruby lips and chin,
And into bed she jumped with him,
Along with a roving soldier, O,
Then blessed the cold rainy night
She rose from bed and let him in,
And he did not go back again, O.

Now since you have had your will of me,
O soldier, will you marry me?
No, such a thing can never be,
So fare you well for ever, O.
O then she cursed the rainy night
She rose from bed and let him in,
And did not go back again, O.

Subject: RE: Chord Req: Cold Haily Rainy Night
From: GUEST,jimmy72
Date: 06 Feb 12 - 06:52 PM

Chords for Jon Boden's Gmajor version:

Oh me hat is frozen to me head /D A /G D /
And me feet they are like a lump of lead, /D A /D /
Oh me shoes they are frozen to me feet /D A /D /
With standing at your window. /G D /G /

“Oh let me in,” the soldier cried, /D /D /
Cold haily windy night, /G C /G D /
“Oh let me in,” the soldier cried, /D /D /
For I'll not come back again oh.” /G C /G D /G /G /

Subject: RE: Chord Req: Cold Haily Rainy Night
From: Joe Offer
Date: 04 Feb 11 - 10:13 PM

Jon Boden has "Cold Blow And The Rainy Night" as the song for Feb 5 in his Folk Song a Day project.

Subject: RE: Chord Req: Cold Haily Rainy Night
From: Tim Chesterton
Date: 29 Sep 10 - 06:25 AM

Actually I love Chris Wood's solo version of it with just his guitar.

Subject: RE: Chord Req: Cold Haily Rainy Night
From: autoharpbob
Date: 14 Feb 10 - 09:06 AM

Anyone else love the "Imagined Village" version of this with tablas and sitars?

Subject: Lyr Add: LET ME IN THIS AE NIGHT (Robert Burns)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 13 Feb 10 - 06:42 PM

Apparently Robert Burns couldn't resist taking a traditional song and improving it:


LET ME IN THIS AE NIGHT*
Robert Burns

O Lassie, art thou sleeping yet,
Or art thou wakin, I would wit,
For love has bound me hand and foot,
And I would fain be in, jo.

CHORUS: O let me in this ae night,
This ae, ae, ae night;
For pity's sake this ae night,
O rise and let me in, jo.

Thou hear'st the winter wind and weet,
Nae star blinks thro' the driving sleet;
Tak pity on my weary feet,
And shield me frae the rain, jo.

O let me in, &c.

The bitter blast that round me blaws,
Unheeded howls, unheeded fa's;
The cauldness o' thy heart's the cause
Of a' my grief and pain, jo.

O let me in, &c.

HER ANSWER:

O tell na me o' wind and rain,
Upbraid na me wi' cauld disdain!
Gae back the gait ye cam again,
I winna let you in, jo.

CHORUS: I tell you now this ae night.
This ae, ae, ae night,
And ance for a' this ae night,
I winna let you in, jo.

The snellest blast, at mirkest hours,
That round the pathless wand'rer pours,
Is nocht to what poor she endures
That's trusted faithless man, jo.

I tell you now, &c.

The sweetest flower that deck'd the mead,
Now trodden like the vilest weed;
Let simple maid the lesson read,
The weird may be her ain, jo.

I tell you now, &c.

The bird that charm'd his summer-day,
Is now the cruel fowler's prey;
Let witless, trusting, woman say
How aft her fate's the same, jo.

I tell you now, &c.

[* The title is sometimes given as O LET ME IN THIS AE NIGHT (or ...NICHT) and sometimes as O LASSIE, ART THOU SLEEPING YET.]

Subject: RE: Chord Req: Cold Haily Rainy Night
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 13 Feb 10 - 05:35 PM

I found a copy of LET ME IN THIS AE NIGHT in Ancient and Modern Scottish Songs, Heroic Ballads, etc., Second Edition*, by George Paton (Edinburgh: James Dickson and Charles Elliot, 1776), page 167.

--Despite that The Traditional Ballad Index has marked it "Earliest Date: 1976" !

The words are nearly the same as those given in the DT, so I won't repeat them here.

There is no musical notation in that book.

*I haven't seen the first edition.

Subject: RE: Chord Req: Cold Haily Rainy Night
From: Malcolm Douglas
Date: 07 Feb 04 - 05:29 PM

Number 135 in the Roud Folk Song Index. Scottish and English forms are generally fairly distinct (though obviously related), with Scottish examples appearing earlier in print and beginning "O lassie art thou sleeping yet" (Burns wrote more than one song based on these) and English forms identifying the male protagonist as a soldier and bearing titles like Cold Blow and a Rainy Night or Cold Haily Rainy Night. English forms overlap with The Cottage in the Wood/Forty Long Miles (and other titles: Roud 608) but that is probably best considered a separate song, though sharing a fair few motifs. (Kennedy groups them together; see Ballad Index comments above).

There are a couple of 19th century broadside editions by Pitts at  http://www.bodley.ox.ac.uk/ballads/ballads.htm:

Cold haily rainy night

MacColl (see Ballad Index ref above) refers to a late 17th century broadside song, John's Earnest Request, but that's an earlier example of the same genre rather than an ancestor. There are two copies at the Bodleian:

John's earnest request: or, Betty's compassionate love extended to him in a time of distress

Subject: RE: Chord Req: Cold Haily Rainy Night
From: Sorcha
Date: 07 Feb 04 - 04:32 PM

OK!

Subject: Let Me In This Ae Nicht
From: Joe Offer
Date: 07 Feb 04 - 03:46 PM

The Traditional Ballad Index groups this with Let Me In This Ae Nicht. A related song with a different plot, "Aye She Likit The Ae Nicht," is listed separately.
-Joe Offer-

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Let Me In This Ae Nicht (2003 entry, now revised)

DESCRIPTION: The (Laird o' Windy Wa's) comes to the girl's window (in bad weather) and begs her, "Let me in this ae nicht." The girl protests. He convinces her to let him in discreetly. She does, and he takes her maidenhead and steals away
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1976 (recording, Archie Fisher)
KEYWORDS: sex nightvisit bawdy mother father trick grief courting request rejection storm father lover mother soldier
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Kennedy 90, "Glaw, Keser, Ergh Ow-cul Yma [It Rains, It Hails and Snows and Blows]" (1 text + Cornish translation, 1 tune)
DT, AENICHT COLDRAIN*
Roud #135
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Aye She Likit The Ae Nicht" (chorus, theme)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
The Laird o Windy Wa's
The Laird o Udny
Cold Haily Windy Night
Cold Blow and a Rainy Night
Notes: This is a complicated story. Kennedy seems to split this song from "Cold Blow and a Rainy Night" but I unhesitatingly lump them. [As do I - RBW.] The plot combines elements of the first three night-visiting songs cross-referenced, but has a distinctly different ending, more reminiscent of "The Barley Straw."
Kennedy's Cornish words are a revivalist translation from the English. Digital Tradition mentions a 19th-century broadside in Baring Gould's collection, but offers no details, and it's not in Kennedy. - PJS
Archie Fisher and Kennedy both say this is part of a longer song found in Herd. But is it a part, or a relative (compare "Aye She Likit The Ae Nicht")? I flatly don't trust Kennedy's list of versions.
Paul Stamler wanted to file this as "Cold Haily Windy Night," on the basis that it's the one best known to folkies, citing recordings by Steeleye Span and Martin Carthy. But I had already assigned the title I learned.... - RBW
File: DTaenich

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Aye She Likit The Ae Nicht(2003 entry, now revised)

DESCRIPTION: The man gets into bed, knocks the bottom boards over the woman's head, gives her his "hairy peg." She likes it. (Refrain: "Lassie, let me in, O") When he comes down, the "auld wife" is standing there; she lifts her clothes and says "Laddie, put it in"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1962 (collected from Maggie McPhee)
KEYWORDS: sex nightvisit bawdy humorous mother
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (1 citation):
MacSeegTrav 41 (Travellers' Songs From England and Scotland), "Ae She Likit The Ae Nicht" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #135
RECORDINGS:
cf. "Let Me In This Ae Nicht" (chorus, theme)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Courting the Widow's Daughter (Hard Times)" [Laws H25] (plot)
Notes: This has a good deal in common with "Let Me In This Ae Nicht," aka "Cold Haily Windy Night," but as the plots are quite different, MacColl & Seeger split them, and so do I. - PJS
I'm glad you added that note, though, or I might have lumped them. (Roud did.) I almost wonder if this isn't "Let Me In This Ae Nicht," with an ending related to "Courting the Widow's Daughter" [Laws H25). - RBW
File: McCST041

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The Traditional Ballad Index entry for this song has been greatly revised. Here is the 2020 entry:

Let Me In This Ae Nicht

DESCRIPTION: The (Laird o' Windy Wa's) comes to the girl's window (in bad weather) and begs her, "Let me in this ae nicht." The girl protests. He convinces her to let him in discreetly. She does, and he takes her maidenhead (waking her mother)) and steals away
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1776 (Herd)
KEYWORDS: sex nightvisit bawdy mother father trick grief courting request rejection storm father lover mother soldier
FOUND IN: Britain(England(Lond),Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (7 citations):
GreigDuncan4 778, "The Laird o' Windywa's" (3 texts, 1 tune)
Robertson-Porter-Gower #46, pp. 197-198, "The Laird o' Windy Wa's" (1 text, 1 tune)
Kennedy 90, "Glaw, Keser, Ergh Ow-cul Yma [It Rains, It Hails and Snows and Blows]" (1 text + Cornish translation, 1 tune)
Reeves-Sharp 22, "Cold Blow and a Rainy Night" (1 text)
Whitelaw-Song, p. 245, "Let Me In This Ae Night" (1 text)
DT, AENICHT COLDRAIN*
ADDITIONAL: David Herd,"Ancient and Modern Scottish Songs, Heroic Ballads, etc." (Edinburgh, 1870 (reprint of 1776)), Vol. II, pp. 167-169, "Let Me In This Ae Nicht"
Roud #135
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Aye She Likit The Ae Nicht" (chorus, theme)
cf. "Love Let Me In (Forty Long Miles; It Rains, It Hails)" (plot)
cf. "Rise Up Quickly and Let Me In (The Ghostly Lover)" (plot)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
The Laird o Windy Wa's
The Laird o Udny
Cold Haily Windy Night
Cold Blow and a Rainy Night
NOTES [291 words]: This is a complicated story. Kennedy seems to split this song from "Cold Blow and a Rainy Night" but I unhesitatingly lump them. [As do I - RBW.] The plot combines elements of the first three night-visiting songs cross-referenced, but has a distinctly different ending, more reminiscent of "The Barley Straw."
Kennedy's Cornish words are a revivalist translation from the English. Digital Tradition mentions a 19th-century broadside in Baring Gould's collection, but offers no details, and it's not in Kennedy. - PJS
Archie Fisher and Kennedy both say this is part of a longer song found in Herd. But is it a part, or a relative (compare "Aye She Likit The Ae Nicht")? I flatly don't trust Kennedy's list of versions.
Paul Stamler wanted to file this as "Cold Haily Windy Night," on the basis that it's the one best known to folkies, citing recordings by Steeleye Span and Martin Carthy. But I had already assigned the title I learned.... - RBW
The "laird o' windy-wa's," not capitalized in Herd, seems to me to be a comment rather than a title; after all, in Herd, the singer says "The morn it is the term-day, I maun awa', I canna stay," hardly the statement of a Laird. The "term-day" is the termination day of the farm help hired for six months. (See also, "South Ythsie," "Straloch" and "O Bonny Sandy.")
Kennedy's text, at least, shares little with the Herd or GreigDuncan4 texts. On the other hand it is very close to GreigDuncan5 983, "Forty Long Miles" and Kidson's Traditional Tunes pp. 58-59, "Forty Miles." - BS
Porter and Gower note that "Several versions of this old bawdy song, more often than not sung by women and all to the same air, have been current among [Scottish] Northeast travellers" (Robertson-Porter-Gower, p. 198. - DGE
Last updated in version 5.3
File: DTaenich

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Subject: RE: Chord Req: Cold Haily Rainy Night
From: Alice
Date: 07 Feb 04 - 03:40 PM

Sorch - know the song, just couldn't figure out that it was an F chord in there, as Malcolm has now given me. The Steeleye Span recording is the one I learned it from.
Thanks a bunch, Malcolm!!

Alice

Subject: RE: Chord Req: Cold Haily Rainy Night
From: Malcolm Douglas
Date: 07 Feb 04 - 03:33 PM

The DT file is taken from Stephen Sedley's book The Seeds of Love (London: Essex Music, 1967, 52-53). Unfortunately, only the first half-sentence of his short note is quoted, so that a very misleading impression is given of the provenance of the song. The full note reads:

"From the 19th century broadside in the Baring-Gould Collection, collated with a set collected by Sharp and with the Scots song Let me in this ae night published by Herd in 1779. The tune, known in the 17th century as The Gown Made New, is collated here from Johnson, Scots Musical Museum and from the version in the Caledonian Pocket Companion, 1752."

One of Mr Sedley's collations, then, rather than a song taken from tradition. Most people will think, perhaps, of Martin Carthy's arrangement of the song, which he originally recorded with Steeleye Span; it is not too dissimilar. As it happens, Sedley provided suggested chords; they are very simple.


My cap(Dm) is frozen to my head
My heart(C) is like a lump(Dm) of lead
My shoes are frozen to(F) my feet
With standing(G) at(Dm) your(G) window(Dm)

Let me in the soldier cried
Cold(C) haily rainy(Dm) night
O let me in the soldier cried
I'll not(Am) go back(C) again, O(Am)


Each chord is placed above the word after which I place it here. Tastes have changed in the intervening years, of course, and they might sound a bit old-fashioned now.

Subject: RE: Chord Req: Cold Haily Rainy Night
From: Sorcha
Date: 07 Feb 04 - 03:13 PM

Alice, the melody is at Yet Another...could you work them out from that?

Subject: Chord Req: Cold Haily Rainy Night
From: Alice
Date: 07 Feb 04 - 02:32 PM

Chords, please, for that classic, "Cold Haily Rainy Night".

Thanks in advance.

Alice Flynn in Montana