 |
| CIDER WITH ROSIE |
In the recent and delightful TV production of 'Cider With Rosie' by Laurie Lee, one of my father's favourite books and consequently one of mine eventually, the excellent actor Samantha Morton playing Laurie's mother a truly extraordinary woman recites poems and songs to the family and I caught her singing this throughout
BLACKBIRDS & THRUSHES
As I was a-walking for my recreation,
A down by the gardens I silently stray'd,
I heard a fair maid making great lamentation,
Crying, Jimmy will be slain in the wars I'm afraid.
The blackbirds and thrushes sang in the green bushes;
The wood doves and larks seem'd to mourn for the maid;
And this song that she sang was concerning her lover;
O Jimmy will be slain in the wars I'm afraid.
Her cheeks blushed like roses, her arms full of posies,
She stray'd in the meadows and, weeping, she said:
My heart it is aching, my poor heart is breaking,
For Jimmy will be slain in the wars I'm afraid.
When Jimmy returned with his heart full of burning,
He found his dear Nancy all dead in her grave
He cried: I'm forsaken, my poor heart is breaking,
O would that I never had left this fair maid!
I found this on the wonderful website Contemplator.com and they say this about the song Blackbird and Thrushes
This tune is supposed to be a variation of Hares on the Mountain. However, this version is not at all similar in either lyrics or melody to the same titled tune in Folksongs of Britain and Ireland, which is similar to Hares. So it may be a completely unrelated tune.
Blackbirds and Thrusheswas popular in the West of England. Printed versions appear in a songbook by Cecil Sharp (1903). Variants include:
- Hares on the Mountain (Version 2)
- O Sally, My Dear
- The Knife in the Window (link to single line melody only).
Wonderful stuff and I found the whole production excellently played and heartfelt throughout. I would of course watch the delightful Sam Morton in anything.
No comments:
Post a Comment