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Steeleye Span are a British folk rock band formed in 1969 in England by Fairport Convention bass player Ashley Hutchings and established London folk club duo Tim Hart and Maddy Prior. The band were part of the 1970s British folk revival, and were commercially successful in that period, with four Top 40 albums and two hit singles: "Gaudete" and "All Around My Hat".
Wassail is a beverage made from hot mulled cider, ale, or wine and spices, drunk traditionally as an integral part of wassailing, an ancient English Yuletide drinking ritual and salutation either involved in door-to-door charity-giving or used to ensure a good harvest the following year.
The tradition of wassailing falls into two distinct categories: the house-visiting wassail and the orchard-visiting wassail. The house-visiting wassail is the practice of people going door-to-door, singing and offering a drink from the wassail bowl in exchange for gifts; this practice still exists, but has largely been displaced by carol singing. The orchard-visiting wassail refers to the ancient custom of visiting orchards in cider-producing regions of England, reciting incantations and singing to the trees to promote a good harvest for the coming year. Notable traditional wassailing songs include "Here We Come a-Wassailing", "Gloucestershire Wassail", and "Gower Wassail".
"The Three Ravens" is an English folk ballad, printed in the songbook Melismata compiled by Thomas Ravenscroft and published in 1611, but the song is possibly older than that. Newer versions were recorded up through the 19th century. Francis James Child recorded several versions in his Child Ballads.
Peter Knight is an English folk musician, a former member of British folk rock group Steeleye Span. Born in London, Knight learnt to play the violin and mandolin as a child before going to the Royal Academy of Music from 1960 to 1964. The recordings of the Irish fiddler Michael Coleman inspired him to take part in Irish pub sessions. He teamed up with guitarist and singer Bob Johnson until 1970 when he joined Steeleye Span. The parting was short-lived, as Johnson himself also joined Steeleye Span in 1972. Since 2016, he has performed as a duo with Bellowhead founder and melodeon player, John Spiers.
Gaudete is a sacred Christmas carol, thought to have been composed in the 16th century. It was published in Piae Cantiones, a collection of Finnish/Swedish sacred songs published in 1582. No music is given for the verses, but the standard tune comes from older liturgical books.*
Ten Man Mop or Mr. Reservoir Butler Rides Again is the third album by Steeleye Span, recorded in September 1971. It was issued on the short-lived Pegasus label, and then the Mooncrest label, also in 1971. It was not initially issued in the US until Chrysalis acquired the group's first three albums in 1975, when it reissued all three in the UK and US. Tracks like "Four Nights Drunk", "Marrowbones", and "Wee Weaver" are essentially pure folk. It was the last album to feature founding member Ashley Hutchings; he left the band in November 1971, just after its completion, partly because he felt that the album had moved too far toward Irish music and away from English music. The band was also considering touring America, and Hutchings was reluctant to make the trip.
Now We Are Six is the sixth studio album by British folk rock band Steeleye Span. Its title refers to both its sequence among their albums, and the band's size, in light of the addition of drummer Nigel Pegrum. The album was released in 1974 through Chrysalis Records. It reached number 13 in the UK albums chart.
Anthems in Eden is a 1969 album by Shirley and Dolly Collins, with the Early Music Consort of London, directed by David Munrow. The album originally consisted of a 28-minute set of folk songs plus seven other individual pieces performed by the same group. The musical arrangements for these eight pieces included early music instruments, such as viols, recorders, sackbuts and crumhorns. In 1976, six new songs were recorded with a different assortment of accompanists, to replace the original seven individual songs. This 1976 album consisting of the 28-minute set plus the six new songs was released by Harvest Records under the title Amaranth. Subsequent releases have combined all fourteen pieces under the original title, Anthems in Eden.
"Johnny I Hardly Knew Ye", also known as "Johnny We Hardly Knew Ye" or "Johnny I Hardly Knew Ya", is a popular traditional song, sung to the same tune as "When Johnny Comes Marching Home".
"The Mermaid" is a traditional folk ballad. Originating around the mid-18th century, this song is known by a number of names, including "Waves on the Sea", "The Stormy Winds", "Our Gallant Ship", and "The Wrecked Ship".
"Sam Hall" is an English folk song about an unrepentant criminal condemned to death for robbing the rich to feed the poor. Prior to the mid-19th century it was called "Jack Hall", after Jack Hall, a thief who was hanged at Tyburn in 1707. Jack Hall's parents sold him as a climbing boy for one guinea, which is why most versions of the song identify Sam or Jack Hall as a chimney sweep.
"Blackleg Miner" is a 19th-century English folk song, originally from Northumberland. Its Roud number is 3193. The song is one of the most controversial English folk songs owing to its depiction of violence against strikebreakers.
Here We Come A-wassailing, also known as Here We Come A-Christmasing,Wassail Song and by many other names, is a traditional English Christmas carol and New Year song, typically sung whilst wassailing, or singing carols, wishing good health and exchanging gifts door to door. It is listed as number 209 in the Roud Folk Song Index. Gower Wassail and Gloucestershire Wassail are similar wassailing songs.
"Blacksmith", also known as "A Blacksmith Courted Me", is a traditional English folk song listed as number 816 in the Roud Folk Song Index.
The song "All Around my Hat" is of nineteenth-century English origin. In an early version, dating from the 1820s, a Cockney costermonger vowed to be true to his fiancée, who had been sentenced to seven years' transportation to Australia for theft and to mourn his loss of her by wearing green willow sprigs in his hatband for "a twelve-month and a day", the willow being a traditional symbol of mourning. The song was made famous by Steeleye Span, whose rendition may have been based on a more traditional version sung by John Langstaff, in 1975.
"Cumberland Gap" is an Appalachian folk song that likely dates to the latter half of the 19th century and was first recorded in 1924. The song is typically played on banjo or fiddle, and well-known versions of the song include instrumental versions as well as versions with lyrics. A version of the song appeared in the 1934 book, American Ballads and Folk Songs, by folk song collector John Lomax. Woody Guthrie recorded a version of the song at his Folkways sessions in the mid-1940s, and the song saw a resurgence in popularity with the rise of bluegrass and the American folk music revival in the 1950s. In 1957, the British musician Lonnie Donegan had a No. 1 UK hit with a skiffle version of "Cumberland Gap".
Phil Tanner was a traditional singer from Llangenith in the Gower Peninsula.
"New York Girls", also known as "Can't You Dance the Polka," is a traditional sea shanty. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 486. It was collected by W. B. Whall in the 1860s. It was printed in 1910 in "Ships, Sea Songs and Shanties". An earlier book "Sailors' Songs or Chanties", first edition 1887, by Davis and Tozer contains a version, but does not specify when it was collected.
The Gloucestershire Wassail, also known as "Wassail! Wassail! All Over the Town", "The Wassailing Bowl" and "Wassail Song" is an English Christmas carol from the county of Gloucestershire in England, dating back to at least the 18th century, but may be older.
References
- ↑ "Wassail! Wassail! All Over The Town - Version 1". hymnsandcarolsofchristmas.com. 31 October 2019. Archived from the original on 31 October 2019. Retrieved 22 November 2023.
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