detail from Twa Sisters – quilt by Dan Willig

Six months ago, my first post for this blog dealt with the ancient murder ballad “Two Sisters“, also known as “Wind and Rain” as well as several other names.  I’m happy with the work I did then, but as with any first attempt I make, I have a compulsion to go back to revise.  I satisfied myself though with the approach I’ll take this week; another round of entries.  I’ve got enough to add to keep it fresh.

So I won’t revise my historical introduction and investigation, though I will add depth to it all in later this week by comparing what we sample here today with the key examples in my first series.  If you’re looking for the detailed background, you can certainly go back and check the original post and my concluding analysis, then come back here for more.  As well, a later post will address a wonderful film project that came to my attention while writing the original series of entries and has since been completed and made quite a splash.

But I’ll start simply by adding the key element lacking in the first round of posts; variety.  Since those first days, our posts here at MBM have become stronger in that we provide when possible a rounded listening sample of the ballads about which we write.  I was simply too selective in my first post on this ballad, and it’s time to correct that!

If you don’t trust me now, I’ll understand and just offer you this Spotify playlist to make up for it (now at over 50 recordings and counting.)  But I hope you’ll give me a second chance and let me curate (though liberally) so you don’t have to wade through all that.  In my next short post I’ll add some other takes on the versions I included originally, but today I want to start with some key examples of variants other than “Two Sisters” and “Wind and Rain”.

“The Bonny Bows of London”


Let’s start strong then.  Martin Carthy is about as good a source as any for traditional British folk music, and both of his performances linked below are powerful.  Here then is one new strain that must be considered if we want to really know what’s going on with Child 10 today.

On the YouTube clip, Martin is backed most excellently on the fiddle by his greatly talented daughter Eliza, and on the Spotify track by the legendary Dave Swarbrick.  Together they all make a “sound would pierce the heart of a stone”.

“Bows of London” – Martin Carthy and Dave Swarbrick  (Spotify)         Lyrics for “Bows of London”

“Cruel Sister / Lay the Bent to the Bonny Broom”

As do Martin Carthy and his compatriots, Pentangle hold a unique and prominent place in British folk music.  Their version of Child 10, titled “Cruel Sister” and released on the 1970 album of the same name, is a seminal recording.  

Their use of the sitar in traditional folk music was truly cutting edge at the time and still moves me greatly.  It just works so well, perhaps because the instrument is the banjo’s primal ancestor.  And, though I’m surely not the first to say it, I’m always struck by their looking east in the old British Empire to find elements that fuse well with this centuries-old music, particularly when so many were understandably looking west to North America during the British folk revivals.

“Cruel Sister” – Pentangle (Spotify)     Lyrics for “Cruel Sister”

While several others were inspired by this version to record it (as you can see from the Spotify playlist,) I’m most struck by a 2007 cover by Charlotte Greig and Johan Asherton on the album John Barleycorn Reborn.  They, like some, use the title suggested by the refrain “Lay the Bent to the Bonny Broom.”  If you like just a hint of jazz in your traditional folk, you’ll surely approve.

 

“Lay Bent to the Bonny Broom” – Charlotte Greig and Johan Asherton (Spotify)

“The Swan Swims so Bonnie, O” / “Minorie”

In my original post, I gave you a taste of Scotland in Jock Duncan’s version of this ballad, “The Bonnie Mill Dams o’ Binnorie.”  But due diligence requires more.  

Lucy Stewart was one of Scotland’s national treasures, and her version of this ballad simply should not be missed. There is a clear connection to the version Martin Carthy sings, but they are also quite distinct.  Now, this recording is purely folk, wholly unprocessed; sung into the microphone of a collector who spent much time with the Stewart family just to be able to hear such songs.  I’m thinking if you’ve read this far, you understand how cool that is and won’t mind the sound quality.

“The Swan Swims so Bonnie, O” – Lucy Stewart

      Lyrics for “The Swan Swims so Bonnie, O”

Ewan MacColl, the well-known keeper of Scotland’s traditional song, recorded a more professional but equally important version which we must include.  The differences between his, Jock’s, and Lucy’s versions no doubt speak to the great age of this ballad; even in an area as small as Scotland this song has multiple well-developed and distinct branches.  It’s no surprise then we see so many truly diverse variants in the broader geographic area influenced by British balladry.  As I argued in my original series, this ballad has had time to evolve.

“Minorie” by Ewan MacColl (Spotify)     Lyrics for “Minorie” by Ewan MacColl

So, I count five new recordings to which you might listen in this post (with one more below), and I’m thinking that’s enough for one day.  More importantly, we now have a more complete picture of that rich diversity one can experience with this particular murder ballad.  To the original four distinct variants I explored in my first series, we’ve now got four more major versions to add; and I’m not claiming that’s comprehensive!  It’s plenty though with which to do a little more digging later this week.  And don’t forget that surprise finale. Did you ever want to see a murder ballad turned into a rich film production?  Turns out if so, you weren’t alone.

Up next though, I’ll go back to the variants in my original posts and add a few more versions to round out those samples.  I’ll make that one a short, ‘highly listenable’ post too and use it as a jumping off point into some longer, headier stuff.

Coda

But let’s close with one to show you that this traditional ballad is still being reworked (not just covered) by artists these days.  Loreena McKennitt used one version of the traditional lyrics of Child 10 and came up with a new interpretation called “The Bonny Swans.”  I have to say it’s not really my cup of tea, but that’s just a matter of taste and I’m willing to bet some of you already know and love it.  It’s definitely worth a listen if you’ve still got some time.  One can’t deny the emotion she pours into this rendition, and I’m intrigued by the modern instrumentation. There’s no Spotify version that I can find, but I can give you her liner notes below the lyrics.

Lyrics for “The Bonny Swans”

THE BONNY SWANS
“October, 1990 – Annaghmakerrig, Ireland…have been striving to create the pieces and shape of The Visit. Brought various books of lyrics, poetry and other influences with me: the Unicorn Tapestries, The Golden Bough. Set some traditional lyrics to music; I am drawn to the harp motif and the essence of a fable in which a girl, drowned by her jealous sister, returns first as a swan and then is transformed into a harp…The countryside of County Monaghan would make an ideal location for a visual interpretation, with its lakes, forests and rolling countryside.”

Hmmm, I guess she wanted to see this song turned into a movie too!  Hard to blame her…

Bonny Swan – photograph by Sarachmet