CD - Park PRK CD 20 (UK, 1993)	Maddy Prior: Year 1. Snowdrops / Birth (M. Prior) 2. Swimming Song (L. Wainrwight III) 3. Marigold (M. Prior) / Harvest Home (Elvey) 4. Red & Green (M. Prior) 5. Long Shadows (M. Prior) 6. Somewhere Along The Road (R. Kemp) 7. What Had You For Supper (trad. arr. Prior / Kemp) 8. Saucy Sailor (trad. arr. M. Prior / N. Holland) 9. The Fabled Hare     a. I Sall Goe Until A Hare (M. Prior)     b. Ruled By The Moon (M. Prior)     c. Scent Of Dog (M. Prior)     d. Winter Wakeneth (M. Kiszko)     e. The Hare Said (M. Prior)     f. I Shall Run And Run (M. Prior) 10. Deep In The Darkest Night (R. Kemp) 11. Boys Of Bedlam (N. Jones / D. Morgan) 12. Twa Corbies (trad. arr. M. Prior / N. Holland)
musicians:	Maddy Prior - vocals Nick Nolland - keyboards Mick Dyche - acoustic guitars Richard Lee - bass Rick Kemp - electric bass Marin Loveday - cello Liam Genocky- percussion Andy Watts - shawms, recorder John Dochary - bass
other credits:	Produced by Maddy Prior Recorded at VM, Oxford Engineered by Chris Baylis and Al Hodgson Mixed by Chris Baylis, Nick Holland and Maddy Prior Photography by Keith Morris © 1993 Park Records

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N o t e s   a n d   L y r i c s

Year      This is a series of seasonal songs. All have been written separately and often with years between but I was stumped for a summer song and so I chose one of the best crafted and most evocative songs I could find.      I'm indebted to Andy Watts and Nick Holland for the linking of the songs, and in case you miss it, the four seasons are connected by instrumental bridges that echo the chimes of a clock, in that they gather an extra phrase each quarter.

Snowdrops Snowdrops and bluebells Primroses and daffodils Will ring out loud bells To welcome in the spring Will ring out loud bells To welcome in the spring Birth Birth is here, it's breaking out of death's hour In fertile bulb and bud we see the promised flower Deep in the circle of the sun's power now returning The heart is light, the step is bright in sunshine Throw caution to the winds now that the weather's fine Dance in the joy that is yours and mine in spring returning Swimming Song This summer I went swimming This summer I might have drowned But I held my breath and I kicked my feet And I threw my arms around This summer I did the swan dive And jack knife for you all And once when you weren't looking I did a cannon ball This summer I swam in the ocean And swam in a swimming pool Salt in my wounds, chlorine in my eyes I'm a self-destructive fool This summer I did the backstroke And you know that's not all I did the breaststroke and the butterfly And the old Australian crawl This summer I swam in a public place And a reservoir to boot At the latter I was informal At the former I wore my suit I wore my swimming suit Long Shadows When long shadows fall and dwarf the trees at evening When white winter light burnishes the streams Then I will bring you a coat of soft lambs wool To keep your back from the keen northern wind When snow shames the sheep that huddle to the leeward When snowdrops peep from darkness unfurled Then I will bring you boots with fur linings To keep your feet dry as you walk o'er the world When home becomes a prison and snowdrifts lock the door When February Fildyke drenches the moor When black rain freezes and whips at your hand Then I will bring you a carriage with wheels of wind To take you away from this barren land

Marigold When the marigold no longer blooms When summer sun is turned to gloom See the forecast winter snow See the evergreen that lonely grows Move close to the fireplace Neglect the garden See the ground harden At a ghostly place The golden summer sun is silver now The fruit has fallen from the bough The season moves to chestnut time Toffee apples, treacle and mulled wine Quilts and furs and woolens gay You wrap around you But the cold confounds you On an autumn day Stout and strong the walls of home and hearth Curtains drawn against the draft The rake has reaped, the blade has mown Nights draw in to call the harvest home The quiet of a heart at rest In peace abounded By love surrounded Here the home is blest Harvest Home Come, ye thankful people, come Raise the song of harvest home All be safely gathered in Ere the winter storms begin God, our Maker doth provide For our wants to be supplied Come, ye thankful people, come Raise the song of harvest home Red & Green Chorus: Red and Green together be seen In the dark time of the year Red and Green together be seen In the time of dread and fear Green for the thorn of the holly leaf That shines in candlelight That holds the hope of evergreen And glimmers in the night Chorus Red for the berry round and full A drop of blood on snow That shows us our humanity The fruit from which we grow Chorus These rocky fields of black and white Demanding endless toil The misty sun gives tired light To raise the sleeping soil Chorus

Somewhere Along The Road      This is one of Rick Kemp's songs with its eery landscape and haunting melody.
Somewhere along the road Somebody waits for me Beyond these present storms that blow Waiting patiently No secrets held in an open heart A spirit that soars over mountains Somewhere along the road Somebody waits for me Somehow a guiding light Always shows the way To those that lose their way by night Searching for the day A day away from happiness Tomorrow will be a new sunrise Somewhere along the road Somebody waits for me	Sometime when winds are still Unexpectedly Perhaps beyond this silent hill A voice will call to me Raise your eyes to see my world Raise your voice and sing out Somewhere along the road Somebody waits for me Somebody waits for me
What Had You For Supper      I've altered the lyrics of this attractive Irish version of Lord Randall to give it an extra kick of relevance. Poison in small quantities can be healing, in gross mass is dangerous stuff.      I heard this version of Lord Randall from the singing of Paddy Reilly and he called it `Buried in Kilkenny'.
What had you for your supper my own darling boy What had you for your supper my comfort and my joy I had fish all from the Irish sea Mother make my bed soon For I'm sick to my heart and I fain would lie down	What will you leave your wife... I will leave her with compensation She can fight for it when I'm gone... What will you leave your son my own... I will leave him my job at Sellafield So that he won't need to sign on...
Saucy Sailor      Saucy Sailor is a wonderful song to sing and I've sung it for many years with Steeleye and it is delightfully comfortable. Its cynical and spiteful lyrics simply trip of the tongue.
Come me own one, come me fair one, Come now unto me, Could you fancy a poor sailor lad Who has just come from sea. O you're ragged love, and you're dirty love, And your clothes smell much of tar, So be gone you saucy sailor lad, So be gone you Jack Tar. If I am ragged love and I'm dirty love, And my clothes smell much of tar, I have silver in my pocket love And gold in great store. And then when she heard him say so On her bended knees she fell, I will marry my dear Henry For I love a sailor lad so well.	Do you think that I am foolish love, Do you think that I am mad, For to wed with a poor country girl Where no fortune's to be had? I will cross the briny ocean, I will whistle and sing, And since you have refused the offer love Some other girl shall wear the ring. I am frolicsome and I am easy, Good tempered and free, And I don't give a single pin my boys What the world thinks of me.
The Fabled Hare      I've always recognized that hares are different from rabbits, but it was only when I was invited to write some music for a television wild life programme about them, that I realized their true individuality and rangey wildness.      They do not burrow, but live precariously on the surface in ``forms'' with strong hind legs as their main asset, in that speed is their best defense against foxes and dogs. The very speed and agility of the hare has prompted man to breed a hound equal to the challenge, but the hare can dodge quicker than all but the nimblest dogs and its stamina is superior after a short distance, so may survive even the handicapped situation of ``coursing''.      Their mad courting behaviour is related to March because that is when they are most visible although they continue their mating activities through most of the year, hidden by darkness or long grass. Mainly the ``boxing'' they indulge in is between male and female. She is keeping them in order.      The hare has deep mythological significance and is known in Chinese, American Indian as wall as European stories. It was the symbol of Aestre, the pagan goddess of rebirth, before Christianity became prevalent in these islands, and as the old religion was overturned so its gods and symbols became associated with the devil and hares were thought to be witches ``familiars''. This piece of music opens with a spell reputed to be used by Scottish witches to change into hares to travel undetected.      The Easter bunny is a mutated descendant of the fabled hare.
I Sall Goe Until A Hare I sall goe until a hare Wi sorrow and sick mickle care I sall goe in the devil's name An while I come home again Ruled By The Moon I am ruled by the moon I move under her mantle I am the symbol of her moods Of rebirths cycle I am companion to the gods I can conceive while I am pregnant I call the dawn and spring in I am the advent I bring life from water In a cup that must be broken I whisper to the bursting egg I'm Aestre's token Scent Of Dog Scent of dog, scent of man Closer closer smell them coming Hot breath, hot death Closer closer hard the running Tongues pant, hearts thump Closer closer through the fields Teeth snap, bones crack Closer closer at my heels Nearer yet and nearer I can feel the poacher's knife He is running for his dinner I am running for my life Winter Wakeneth Wynter wakeneth al my care nou this leues waxeth bare; ofte y sike ant mourne sare when hit cometh in my thoht of this worldes joie hou hit geth al to noht.	The Hare Said Man sprays no weeds The scythe cuts the corn bleeds Leverets trapped in a harvest blade 'Tis the time of man, the hare said Here's the tractor here's the plough And where shall we go now We'll lie in forms as still as the dead In the open fields, the hare said. No cover but the camouflage From the winter's wild and bitter rage All our defense is in our legs We run like the wind, the hare said. I Shall Run And Run I've been cursed, I've been despised As a witch with darkest powers - I sall goe until a hare - I've been hunted, trapped and punished In these my darkest hours - Wi sorrow and such mickle care - I've been thrown into the fire But I do not fear it - I sall goe until a hare - It purifies and resurrects And I can bear it - Wi sorrow and such mickle care - I sall goe until a hare wi sorrow and such mickle care I have outrun dogs and foxes And I've dodged the tractor wheels - I sall goe until a hare - I've survived your persecution And your ever changing field - Wi sorrow and such mickle care - I will run and run forever Where the wild fields are mine - I sall goe until a hare - I'm a symbol of endurance Running through the mists of time - Wi sorrow and such mickle care -
Deep In The Darkest Night      Rick Kemp wrote this beautiful song of loving friendship that is set on a strange and dreamy sea shore.
Deep in the darkest night Under a midnight blue Standing alone with the sea and the moon You said that you'd come back soon Deep in the darkest night Deep in a memory A fugitive on the run Looking for somewhere to make a bed Somewhere to lie a restless head Deep in a memory Chorus: I'll be your harbour when there's a storm I'll be your sunshine I'll keep you warm I'll be your shelter in the rain and snow Remember wherever you go Deep in the darkest night	Dans un noir de nuit Je n'avais rien dit Souvenir d'un ête chaud Souvenir de soleil et d'eau Dans un noir de nuit Deep in your heart you know You're running against the wind Taking your loneliness in your case The same old sadness from place to place Deep in your heart you know Chorus Dans un noir de nuit Dans un noir de nuit Deep in the darkest night
Boys Of Bedlam      Bedlam was the popular name given to Bethlehem Hospital for the Insane. This lyric, set to music by Nic Jones and Dave Moran, has a certain Brechtian quality and is certainly one of the most grotesque and alarming images of madness that I know.
For to see mad Tom of Bedlam 10,000 miles I'd travel Mad Mauldin goes on dirty toes For to save her shoes from gravel Chorus: Still I sing bonny boys, bonny mad boys Bedlam boys are bonny For they all go bare and they live by the air And they want no drink nor money I went down to Satan's kitchen For to get me food this morning And there I got soul's piping hot All on the spit a-turning Chorus My staff hath murdered giants And my bag along I carries I cut mince pies from children's thighs With which to feed the fairies Chorus	My spirit's white as lightning Would on my travels guide me The moon would quake and the stars would shake Whenever they espied me Chorus And when that I have murdered The man in the moon to a powder His staff I'll break and his dog I'll shake And there'll howl no demon louder Chorus For to see mad Tom of Bedlam 10,000 years I'd travel Mad Mauldin goes on dirty toes For to save her shoes from gravel Chorus
Twa Corbies      Reflection on death in its physical reality is known to the Buddhists and Hindus, but in the West only in Medieval times was it dealt with directly and evoked by skeletons carved on graves and gruesome images of Death the Reaper. In these more antiseptic times there is little in this line and flowers, wreaths and gentle doves cloud the unacceptable thought of our mortal destination. This song dates from earlier times and is for me a brilliant examination of decay.      Ray Fisher set the stark old Scottish words to this moody Breton tune and we have amplified its gothic atmosphere.      Corbies means Carrion Crow and hause bane is a breast bone.
As I was walking all alane I met twa corbies making a main And tane inta the tither did say O Where shall we gang and dine the day O In behint yon auld fell dyke I wat there lies a new slain knight And naebody kens that he lies there O But his hawk and his hound and his lady fair O His hound is tae the hunting gane His hound tae fetch the wild fowl hame His lady's taen anither mate O So we maun make our dinner sweet O	Ye'll sit on his white hause bane And I'll pike out his bonny blue een Wi mony a lock o' his gowden hair O We'll theek our nest when it grows bare O Mony a one for him makes main But nane shall ken where he is gane O'er his white bones when they are bare O The wind shall blow for ever mair O

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