Still waiting to hear one this year. Anyone heard a cuckoo yet?
The cuckoo's a pretty bird, she sings as she flies.
She brings us good tidings, tells us no lies.
She sucks the little birds' eggs to keep her voice clear,
And when she sings "cuckoo!" the summer draws near.
This song should have been on the album but I fudged the words slightly (not sure if anyone would even notice but I do1). I thought it was fine to shove on here/YouTube though. 😊
As I walked down by the side of a bush
I heard two birds whistling, the blackbird and the thrush.
I asked them the reason so merry they be,
And the answer they gave me, we are single and we are free.
The bird giving some sage advice there!!
This is another sad song - yet another where the woman gets left weeping! As the words say…
Meeting is pleasure but parting is a grief
And an inconstant lover is worse than a thief.
A thief he will rob me and take all I have,
But an inconstant lover sends me to my grave.
And the grave, it will rot me and bring me to dust,
An inconstant lover no maiden can trust,
They'll court you and kiss you and vow they'll be true
And the very next moment they'll bid you adieu.
This new album, out yesterday, is described as “Folk songs of love and loss, from town and country”. In some of the songs it is clear but many of them entertain both.
There are quite a few folk songs named the mysterious cuckoo, another great one was made popular by the film Cold Mountain.
But I really love the one I learnt off Anne Briggs recordings (again!) - it is so raw and English and peaceful (just listening to the fast paced banjo and fiddle accompaniment of the above while I write this is too much for me first thing in the morning as I write this!). It may even have some Irish roots too. There is just so much cross-over with our trad. songs. Then what with the migration of songs to America and back again (see “Nottamun Town”….will have to explain that one another time)
Just realised, The Cuckoo does feature on my very first CD.
A few weeks ago when drafting this substack I had just treated myself to a lush new book by the great nature writer
I just love this. It is full of examples of the cuckoo in folklore, poetry and folk song. Highly recommend!
We sang a cuckoo song at our walk last Sunday.
In fact, we sang two!
It’s actually BANDCAMP FRIDAY today so a good time to buy my music if you’d like to - all the revenue goes straight to the artist and we pay no fees (don’t think there is another now till August).
Thanks for reading - PS did anyone listen right to the end of the first track at start of this substack?? That daft little bonus verse is track 9 on the new album
I learnt that snippet off a man called Bob Proctor (no longer with us) - an old folkie you’d see out and about at the folk clubs and Irish sessions in Notts, and I believe an acquaintance of Anne Briggs..
And here’s a video of that snippet filmed by one of the lads haha. Do excuse the language - I don’t mind my kids swearing too much.
This one can be a bugger to get the starting note right because if you begin too high then the entire song is screwed, or rather tricky to sing as it can get quite high at the end. So I always have to hum that start note (even if I don’t end up getting it quite right!)
Thanks for reading.
Other ways of buying my music:
Here are the CD prices if you order from me direct on thebreadwitch@gmail.com
£10 + £3 p&p in the UK = £13 total
£10 + £5 p&p elsewhere in the world = £15 total
I will also send you the Mp3 downloads with this. The PayPal link is here (If you can select the "friends and family" option please then I don't have to pay a fee!) I will be getting all my music on my website shop soon but just have not had time yet. #alwaysaluddite
(if you want to buy 2 or 3 CDs the postage cost remains the same)
I also have my old 2020 album as well as the one out in March and prices are the same as above
If you prefer to stream music it’s all on Spotify, iTunes and YouTube etc…..Links can be found here.
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
I'm a folk singer based in Nottingham, England and also known as The Bread Witch for my Community Bread Baking project 🍞🥖
🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶
If you appreciate my work/music perhaps you'll consider buying me a coffee (or 3!) ☕☕☕☕ https://www.buymeacoffee.com/EatBakeSing
Many thanks! 🤗
🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶
should be “And the grave it will rot you and bring you to dust, and an inconstant lover no maiden can trust….He’ll court you and kiss you and vow he’ll be true and the very next moment he’ll bid you adieu”. Unfortunately it was only that one line in bold that I somehow managed to miss out.
Share this post