Annie Laurie
Thanks to Michael (@michaelhermiston ) for suggesting I do this one.
I'm a big fan of The Corries, so tried to copy their style:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HrUaF5STwKA
Which confirmed how hard it is to play and sing guitar together!
I found this Australian paper article from 1911 discussing the history of the song:
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/50457288
Some further 1876 background:
https://archive.org/details/parishglencairn00montgoog
And this original verse:
She's backit like the peacock, she's breistit like the swan
She's jimp aboot the middle, her waist ye weel may span
Her waist ye weel may span, and she has a rolling eye
And for bonnie Annie Laurie I'd lay doun my head and die.
(I assume having a backside like a peacock is a compliment?)
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Bandcamp: https://ozfolklounge.bandcamp.com/
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H.P. Lovecraft, Drinking Song from 'The Tomb'
This untitled drinking song appeared in 'Dagon and other Macabre Tales' as part of 'The Tomb':
https://archive.org/details/dagonothermacabr0000hplo
Doing my own setting as it was one of the songs recorded in the recent Leslie Fish collecting effort.
@Lankum have also done a setting of this song:
https://lynchedfolkmiscreants.bandcamp.com/track/drinking-song-from-the-tomb
#Lovecraft #Drinking #Death
Purchase my music:
Bandcamp: https://ozfolklounge.bandcamp.com/
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Dracula's Dying by Leslie Fish (Cover)
Fabulous news today that the Leslie Fish ( @lesliefish_filk) songbook is around 72 pages longer, thanks to the collection work by Katrina Joyner and the editing by Eli Goldberg.
You can purchase the songbook here (previous purchasers will get the updated version for free):
https://www.prometheus-music.com/product/leslie-fishs-filkbook/
This song was already in the book, but I'd never heard it. Fortunately Leslie sung it as part of Katrina's recent collecting visit with Leslie, so I've tried to pick the melody as best I can.
Thumbnail is of course 'Nandor the Relentless' from the brilliant series (and movie) #whatwedointheshadows
#Dracula #Filk #LeslieFish
Purchase my music:
Bandcamp: https://ozfolklounge.bandcamp.com/
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Monotreme
I think about weird things.
#Platypus #Echidna #Monotreme #Ukulele
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monotreme
Purchase my music:
Bandcamp: https://ozfolklounge.bandcamp.com/
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Steer Your Way by Leonard Cohen (Cover)
Leonard left us this message on the final album released while he was still with us, 'You Want it Darker'. Well it sure has gotten darker since 2016.
Not sure how the world can steer through current rising tide of hatred, fear and violence.
Official audio:
https://youtu.be/qM71N3TchfQ?si=3aFiivJIrfM7pNZM
#LeonardCohen #Israel #Peace
Purchase my music:
Bandcamp: https://ozfolklounge.bandcamp.com/
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Carrie Lee - A Bodleian Ballad Halloween - #10
This ballad from the US appears four times in the Bodleian archive:
http://ballads.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/search/roud/V4914
I have used the lyrics from this 1859 songbook:
https://archive.org/details/beadles1018newy
The only detail I can find on the author is here:
http://composers-classical-music.com/a/AngeloHenry.htm
Not to be confused with the two British sword masters of the same name.
Harry's name is a on a few sets of sheet music:
https://www.antipodean.com/pages/books/16831/henry-angelo-william-h-coulston/folks-that-put-on-airs-as-sung-by-e-f-dixey
No idea who Carrie Lee was, to warrant a song about her death. Henry had a sister Catherine, but no evidence to suggest she was the subject of the song.
Full album here:
https://ozfolklounge.bandcamp.com/album/a-broadside-ballad-halloween
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Yes to the Voice #Yes23
Australian's vote in a referendum on 14 October:
https://www.aec.gov.au/referendums/learn/the-question.html
It was only in 1967, that this country, with a recent history of European occupation and racism, voted to count the native population as humans:
https://aiatsis.gov.au/explore/1967-referendum
#Yes23 #Australia #Referendum
Hopefully this weekend Australians will take another long-overdue step in moving to #truth, #treaty and a #voice for indigenous people.
Purchase my music:
Bandcamp: https://ozfolklounge.bandcamp.com/
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The Wolf - A Bodleian Ballad Halloween - #9
This ballad seems to be about burglars, but is halloweeny enough for me:
http://ballads.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/view/edition/7367
The song is by William Shield (1748-1829) and was part of the opera 'The Castle of Andalusia", version published in 1807:
https://www.gutenberg.org/files/36651/36651-h/36651-h.htm
There was an earlier, 1783 publication of the opera, however, the end to ACT III doesn't include the song:
https://archive.org/details/bim_eighteenth-century_the-castle-of-andalusia-_okeeffe-john_1783
It does appear in the 1798 collected works of John O'Keefe Volume 1:
https://archive.org/details/dramaticworksofj01okeeiala
#Oxford #Bodleian #Halloween
Full album here:
https://ozfolklounge.bandcamp.com/album/a-broadside-ballad-halloween
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The Ghost of Maria - A Bodleian Ballad Halloween - #8
Only one instance of this ballad in the Bodleian archive:
http://ballads.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/view/edition/6953
Vaughan Williams lists a few copies:
https://www.vwml.org/search?q=V1903
It is possible that this song relates to the Maria of the 'Red Barn' murder in 1827:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Barn_Murder
Full album here:
https://ozfolklounge.bandcamp.com/album/a-broadside-ballad-halloween
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Oscar's Ghost - A Bodleian Ballad Halloween - #5
Oscar's Ghost is the 2nd ballad on this sheet, and only occurs once in the archive:
http://ballads.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/view/edition/18576
Interestingly, the words are different to those that appear in this 1776 tourist book about Scotland:
https://archive.org/details/bim_eighteenth-century_observations-relative-ch_gilpin-william_1789_1/page/n167
These word's claim to have been seen by William Gilpin as an inscription in Ossian's Cave in Dunkeld. Most tourist guides now say that the inscription no longer exists:
https://www.showcaves.com/english/gb/subterranea/Ossian.html
The song is undoubtably about the Poems of Ossian, by James Macpherson:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ossian
The entry at the top of this page clearly inspires the final half-stanza about grey stones and hunters:
https://archive.org/details/cu31924013188960/page/n185/
The Bodleian version, and this one that attributes the poem to Ann Murray Keith, both miss the final lines (which are what makes the song clearly about a ghost):
https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Book_of_Scottish_Song/Oscar%27s_Ghost
There is a tantalizing inference here that Ann had converted much more of Ossian into verse:
https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:XcCq3wYcTOYJ:https://electricscotland.com/webclans/families/keiths.htm&cd=13&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=au&lr=lang_en|lang_zh-CN|lang_zh-TW
Blog post about this song:
https://www.folklounge.org/ossians-cave-mystery/
#Halloween #Scotland #Ossian
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Bandcamp: https://ozfolklounge.bandcamp.com/
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Phantasmagoria - A Bodleian Ballad Halloween - #4
The Phatasmagoria was a slideshow display, often of ghosts and skeletons, popular in the late 1700s:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phantasmagoria
There are two editions in the Bodleian library, one from around 1800:
http://ballads.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/view/edition/15879
The animated film is by Émile Cohl and called Fantasmagorie, released in 1908:
https://archive.org/details/1908-first-animated-cartoon-emile-cohl-5
#Halloween #Bodleian #Ballads
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Bandcamp: https://ozfolklounge.bandcamp.com/
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The Spectre Knight - A Bodleian Ballad Halloween - #3
This ballad only appears once in the archive, with no detail on the year it was written:
http://ballads.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/view/edition/20261
It is a long shot, but there are several Ellen's related to Sir Richard Earl of Sefton in the 1300s, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earl_of_Sefton
Purchase my music:
Bandcamp: https://ozfolklounge.bandcamp.com/
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Song of the Lusty Argonian Maid
After the recent request to do a song from Skyrim, I recalled this part of the game:
https://elderscrolls.fandom.com/wiki/The_Lusty_Argonian_Maid
A book much in the style of Robert Burns' lewd songs in the Merry Muse of Caledonia.
I had a go at turning it into a song with a happy ending (at least for the maid):
https://www.folklounge.org/portfolio/song-of-the-lusty-argonian-maid/
Purchase my music:
Bandcamp: https://ozfolklounge.bandcamp.com/
#skyrim #argonian #elderscrolls
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Until Morning by Kate Rusby (Cover)
One good thing about long plane flights is the chance to listen to an album properly. This song is from Philosophers, Poets and Kings by Kate Rusby (@katerusbyofficial)
Here is Kate's version from the album:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJoImFUjijY
It looks like Kate is on Bandcamp now:
https://katerusby.bandcamp.com/album/philosophers-poets-and-kings
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Come by the Hills by W. Gordon Smith
My favourite weekend of the year is always the Irish and Celtic Music Festival here in Yass. This year was no exception, with beautiful weather and a fabulous lineup.
I've included some of my terrible photos from the weekend, and will link the artists below. There were many more great performers that I didn't get to see over the weekend. Here is the full line-up:
https://www.irishcelticmusicfestival.com/applications
Apolline (@apolline8124) are an incredible string trio, who shared the stage with Austral (@australmusic) for the final concert on Sunday.
Peter Moir ran a Bohdran workshop, and also played with Merran Moir and Little/Big fiddle. Here are Merran (@merranm9437) and Peter playing:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-4GBMCn_-M
Little/Big Fiddle (@bigfiddlelittlefiddle2118) here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wSgsj27u5o
Tolka's (@tolkatrad) opening set at the Lovat Chapel was brilliant, an example of the world class standard on show over the weekend:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5HUNqduX4A
Songbrother's (@MiguelHeatwole) set of songs was fabulous at the Liberty Theatre, but what was much more fun was swapping songs around the fire at the back of Yazzbar with Miguel, Dallas, Anthony, Tory and Don Brian after 11pm.
I had the honour of running sound for a set of brilliant artists on Sunday, including Inez Hargaden, Moira and Wendy from the (Dixie) Chooks (@dixiechooks2713) Christina Green and Emmy Bree (@emmybreemusic).
Links for those that don't have a YouTube presence:
Inez: https://open.spotify.com/artist/1zQit5a1kWWBxu9yeqeKXE?si=5VCncUpFRZKigNa0RzGdZA
Christina: https://christinagreen.bandcamp.com/
Traditional Graffiti (@TheWheezerPump) have been coming to Yass for many years (previously as the Wheeze and Suck Band) and their high energy tunes and fine harmonies did not disappoint. (Thanks also to Ian for coming to my early Sunday morning Gig!).
Some acts I only caught part of, including Briar Hill (@BriarHillBand) and Black Bee Band, but what I did hear was fabulous.
It was great to hear a new song from Lugh Damen (@lughdamen2299), but also always brilliant to hear his songs of ancient Irish goddesses, gods and legends.
Cenris (@cenrisofficial1272) was doing some magic with a looper and a multitude of instruments. Lets hope we can get him for Questfest!
Chloe and Jason Roweth (@jasonroweth ) completed a full cycle of tunes and songs without stopping for a breath in the glorious Lovat Chapel, you can listen here:
https://www.facebook.com/1606388018/videos/678254340911508/
The late Saturday night session in Trader and Co. with Mad Kelpie Playdate (@madkelpieplaydate6210) has become a festival tradition, and you could not get a seat.
Sorry to those I didn't get photos of, or missed hearing over the weekend, including Nerida Cuddy (@neridacuddy), Phil Lester, Gar Maclmena (@garmacleman3511) , Tidal Moon (@tidalmoon7554).
Thanks to the businesses, volunteers, performers and those who supported the festival. Looking forward to 2024!
#Yass #JointheCraicinYass #YassIrishandCelticFestival
Purchase my music:
Bandcamp: https://ozfolklounge.bandcamp.com/
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Banks of Sweet Italy by The Incredible String Band (Cover)
I often find myself going down internet rabbit holes late in the night. This one was about a post made by David Evans asking about a song that Christina 'Licourice/Likky' McKechnie sang called 'Old Songs and Cottages':
https://www.angelfire.com/biz3/ISB/likkie.html
Which led me to this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ksMT5OFNhSI
With some commentary from Christina's ex-husband, Brian Lambert (@brianthomaslambert2894 ) talking about the terrible impact that $cientology had on her.
No luck finding the song, thus I made this video in the hope that some Incredible String Band fans know about it. There are a lot of fan sites, this one is incredible (pun intended):
http://www.wolfgangrostek.de/5000onions/diary/diary-6.html
I chose this song, as Lekky sings the first verse (though Robin Williamson wrote the song):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAjXCSD0sB0
In honour of the eclectic musical choices of ISB, I have used a few of my lesser played instruments.
#ISB #IncredibleStringBand #Scientology
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Sailing to Philadelphia by Mark Knopfler (Cover)
Thanks to Michael Hermiston (@michaelhermiston ) for suggesting that I have a go at this song by Mark Knopfler.
Here is a great live version by Mark:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GtxuWycNgfo
And Michael's recording:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xd-NhbF4Kp8
And the history behind the song:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mason%E2%80%93Dixon_line
Purchase my music:
Bandcamp: https://ozfolklounge.bandcamp.com/
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From Clare to Here by Ralph McTell (Cover)
#Yass is a lot further from Clare than the place Ralph McTell wrote this song from, but next weekend Yass will become a small part of Ireland with our local music festival:
https://www.facebook.com/jointhecraicinyass
County Clare:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/County_Clare
Song Details:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/From_Clare_to_Here
Pixabay photos of Clare, and map from here:
https://townmaps.ie/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/23-NW-Clare-Map-NN.jpg
Ralph's version with the Furey's:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vqe86ySJkuk
Purchase my music:
Bandcamp: https://ozfolklounge.bandcamp.com/
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Big Australia
I grew up within 10km of a Big Pineapple, Big Cow, Big Macadamia Nut and Big Mower, just to name a few. It is a very weird Australian obsession.
News this week that the Royal Australian Mint is hoping to make a few bucks (pun intended) on the phenomena:
https://eshop.ramint.gov.au/2023-news-aussie-big-things
You can find a map of the 600 things here:
https://myrigadventures.com/big-things-australia/
Photos of big things credited to authors on these pages:
https://www.brownsigns.net.au/big-things/the-golden-gumboot/
https://www.brownsigns.net.au/big-things/matilda-big-kangaroo/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_things_(Australia)
Purchase my music:
Bandcamp: https://ozfolklounge.bandcamp.com/
#BigThings #Australia
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Answer to the Irish Emigrant
It is just over a week until the Yass Irish and Celtic music festival! I hope you can join us here in Yass, 15-17 September.
Festival details here:
https://www.facebook.com/jointhecraicinyass
I went looking in the archives and found this song from around 1859. It must have been written contemporary to the Great Hunger; the famine cause by the British and suffered by millions of Irish:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Famine_(Ireland)
There are three versions of the ballad in the Bodleian archives:
http://ballads.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/search/roud/13855
The tune is my own, as I don't think there are other recordings of this song.
The ballad that this song responds to could be as much as 20 years earlier, possibly before the start of the famine:
http://ballads.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/search/roud/2661
There is a recording of this ballad:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3nJcRE5gJk
Purchase my music:
Bandcamp: https://ozfolklounge.bandcamp.com/
#Ireland
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The Drover's Wife by Boudicca (Cover - Questfest 2023)
Last night the folks at Questfest (thanks Karl & @girthswordpromotions6666 ) allowed me (for the fourth time) to play an acoustic #filk set at the start of this unique and brilliant folk metal event at The Basement in Canberra. (It's also coming to Melbourne next weekend).
Boudicca (@boudiccaaus ) were the opening band, coming from Newcastle for their first Questfest. Madeleine Mitchell was, without doubt, the most powerfully angry singer of the 8-bands that played last night, backed by a brilliant line-up and a last minute stand-in drummer who did a cracking job.
I'm a folkie, so it was fascinating to hear lyrics which could have been penned by Henry, Banjo or Woody Guthrie sung in a metal style.
This is my cover of the song 'The Drover's Wife' from their 2022 album 'Tapestry'.
Here is an excellent music video that goes with this song:
https://youtu.be/H9z9PK2iqPg
Paintings are by Fredrick McCubbin, who captured the drover's/settler's life so well.
Purchase Boudicca's music:
https://boudicca.bandcamp.com/album/tapestry
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Bold Reilly (or Riley)
These guys (@pressgangmutiny9639 ) are after some more subscribers, if you like shantys please consider helping them out:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6x6SCCIxbA
This song was sung by David Jones at about 17 minutes in the video above.
The history of the shanty is murky,
https://mainlynorfolk.info/lloyd/songs/boldriley.html
Given the references, I suspect it might be a post 1900s creation.
I found the link to Eleanor Rathbone (and her story) fascinating:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eleanor_Rathbone
https://news.liverpool.ac.uk/2016/03/08/international-womens-day-remembering-eleanor-rathbone/
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-merseyside-38256111
There are many many recordings of this song, but Kate Rusby does my favourite:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eAQn9c_u5aQ
Mudcat discussion on the origins:
https://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=50732
Purchase my music:
Bandcamp: https://ozfolklounge.bandcamp.com/
#Shanty #Sufferage
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Sweet Magpie
ABC Science (@ABCScience ) ran a contest to find the most loved Australian animal sound. The Magpie was the winner.
https://www.scienceinpublic.com.au/abc/magpie_wins
Full song here:
https://youtu.be/e2kzUYh_yQQ
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Sweet Magpie
Congratulations to the Magpie on being selected as the voice Australians most love to hear!
https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2023-08-19/magpie-australias-favourite-animal-sound-winner-science-week/102735560
#Australia #Magpie #birdsong
Photos and birdsong from Pixabay.
Lyrics here:
https://allpoetry.com/poem/17347196-Sweet-Magpie-by-Yasslad
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