Child Ballad #5

Child 5: Gil Breton. This one has a complicated plot involving adultery, but not really. I never heard of this guy before, but he's pretty good for a guy singing in his living room. I guess he's an example of the democratization of music that the interwebs have made possible. (Here's his website: http://raymondfolk.wetpaint.com/)

Child Ballad #4

Child Ballad 4: Lady Isabel and the Elf Knight. The core of this ballad is that a woman is wooed by a Knight (often presented as an elf). When she elopes with him he takes her to spot where he has killed several other women. She manages to trick him and escpae and/or kill him. Also known as The Outlandish Knight, May C...ollin, False Sir John, and The Water o Wearie's Well. Martin Carthy here mixes variants of two different versions.

New direction

I'm announcing a new direction for this blog. I originally intended this to be a place to post youtube videos of music that amused or interested me. Although my interests haven't changed, and I still like rock, country, bluegrass, classical, American folk, and other styles, from now on this blog is about "Celtic and British folk" only. I also intend to expand beyond merely posting videos to album and concert reviews, announcements of upcoming events and my random thoughts on various aspects of this music.

The boundaries of "Celtic and British folk" will be fairly wide. The core will be the traditional music of Ireland, Scotland, England, Wales and the Isle of Man. It will also include those traditions that can be seen as direct descendants of those styles, so that music from Appalachia, the Maritime Provinces of Canada, and Australia will get covered to some extent, as, of course, music from the Irish and Scottish diasporas. Stylistically, I'm not strictly interested in "pure" traditional music only, so the use of electric or non-traditional instruments are fine with me. Likewise new songs in traditional styles are also good.

Child Ballad #3

Child Ballad 3: The False Knight on the Road. Another riddling song. Steeleye Span this time. I love Steeleye Span.

Child Ballads, #2 The Elfin Knight

Child Ballad 2: The Elfin Knight. The core of this ballad includes demands by a woman that her suiter perform impossible tasks including making of a garment with no seams. One varient is widely known as Scarbourough Fair. This is not that variant. Sung by Kate Rushby.

Child Ballads

So I've been gone over a year. Sue me.

I've decided to see how many Child Ballads I can find.

Child Ballad 1: "Riddles Wisely Expounded" sung by The Askew Sisters. I never heard of them before I found this, but they are quite good.

Philmont Hymn

The internet is a strange place. The elder daughter is expressing an interest in Girl Scouts. I had been holding out until she was 14, so she could join Venture Scouts, the co-ed program run by the BSA. I have an ulterior motive. Venture Scout crews can go to Philmont. I went thrice as a Boy Scout, and want to go back, badly. If she goes, I can go. To entice the elder daughter I told her, again, about Philmont. To drive the point home I searched youtube for Philmont videos. It wasn't hard to find nice videos with slide shows of the scenery. I may have hooked her. Of course I ran across some videos that use the Philmont Hymn as a soundtrack. I like the Philmont Hymn, and a spent the better part of the evening singing it. (The younger daughter now hates it.) After my evening shower I had a brain fart on the lyrics, and looked them up via Google. A little bit if searching turned up an astonishing coincidence. The Philmont Hymn was written by a 16 year old Philmont Ranger in 1947, John Westfall. Mr. Westfall died this month after a good life aged 81. It turns out that he lived in town I now live in. His funeral was at the Episcopal Church down the street from my house, the church my family occasionally attends. His obituary describes as active in scouts and in his community throughout his life. He was a past member of the board of directors for the ballet company my daughter is in. I never met him, but throughout my life his song has meant a great deal to me. I never met him, but I miss him.

So far as I know, the Philmont Hymn has only bee professionally recorded once, by the US Air Force Academy choir. I used to own this version as a single.