Bird in the Bush

with the harp-out NOW

My sister and I (The Russell Sisters) have been releasing our music properly for the first time lately. Our second song is out now to buy/stream everywhere and here is a little about it below (please give it a listen here).

Last Sunday we were in the oldest¹ pub in all England - just chilling out, having a family day. I’ve been going in The Trip (Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem) before I was even born (yes, really!). I love that my family have always gone in there. My Dad always sat in the same spot near the fire and we used to meet up with him and my kids most weeks. And he remembers going in with his Ma and Pa when he was just a little lad.

There’s something about sitting in the same spot that our ancestors have. Who knows how far back this goes, for I never asked and now it’s too late. I even took my Dad’s ashes in the same pub after collecting them from the crematorium (he died in 2019). I know that sounds weird but I didn’t want to go straight home. Was like a last pint with my Pa.

Anyway I digress and this has nowt to do with the song at all!! Just explaining where this clip was taken.

It’s nice as there’s a cosy little (haunted) snug at the side of the pub. We took over the room, got the chessboard out and Alisa played her harp.

I absolutely LOVE this song and learnt it from an Anne Briggs recording years ago. It’s one of those traditional songs with a double meaning. A.L. Lloyd, an English folk song collector said the following about it

“In poetry, as in dream, the bird may be a mild symbol of the penis as the rose, rosebush or bush is of the vulva. There’s Lesbia’s sparrow, Boccaccio’s nightingale and, for the matter of that, the dove of the Annunciation. In the present song, common enough yet rarely reported in full, a young man with shadowed face meets a vivid trio of girls and goes with them into the woods where the leaves are thickest. The subsequent sociable action is simple and quiet, but the symbolic language and mysterious tune create a scene that is sensual in the extreme.”

Three maidens a-milking did go
Three maidens a-milking did go
And the wind it blow high and the wind it did blow low
It tossed their petticoats to and fro

They met with a young man they know
They met with a young man they know
And they've asked it of him if he had any skill
To catch them a small bird or two

Oh yes, I've a very good skill
Oh yes, I've a very good skill
And it's come away with me to the yonder flowering tree
And I'll catch you a small bird or two

So it's off to the greenwoods went they
It's off to the greenwoods went they
And he's tapped at the bush and the bird it did fly in
Just a little above her white knee

And her sparkling eyes they did turn round
Just as if she was in a swound
And she cried "Oh, I've a bird and a very pretty bird
He's a-pecking away at his own ground"

Here's a health to the bird in the bush
Here's a health to the bird in the bush
And we'll drink up the sun, and we'll drink down the moon
Let the neighbours say little or much

(I often get the sun and moon mixed up at the end there! which one was is “up” and which is “down” - as I do in the version below)

This is me singing it on my own in my front garden of my old house. It has such a different feel unaccompanied. I just played the two together and I think I’m slightly off key. Oh well, it doesn’t really matter I suppose because when you’re alone with no instruments you can sing how you want. There is a kind of freedom in that (ie not having your sister boss you around!). This solo version will be on my next album out soon too.

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If you got this far then THANK YOU!!

I'm a folk singer based in Nottingham, England and also known as The Bread Witch for my Community Bread Baking project 🍞🥖

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If you appreciate my work/music perhaps you'll consider buying me a coffee (or 3!) ☕☕☕☕ https://www.buymeacoffee.com/EatBakeSing

Many thanks! 🤗

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1. so they say, though it’s debatable