Canadian Folk Music, 46.4 (Winter 2013)
Sheath and Knife
It is noticeable that when singers who are new to folk discover the “Child Ballads”, they are knocked sideways by the grand themes, the mysterious characters, and the romantic panoply of lords, ladies, outlaws and fairies, and for a while they can become obsessed with them. Rosaleen Gregory is no newcomer to the scene, and will be more than familiar to readers of this magazine, but her two new CDs demonstrate that the ballads’ fascination does not fade after 50 years’ familiarity. It is clear that this is a project which has been dear to her heart for a long time.
Sheath and Knife presents 12 ballads, including “The Gypsy Laddie” and the “Trumpeter of Fyvie”, and lesser-known items like “The Burning of Auchindoon”,although one of them, “The Lowlands of Holland”, is only distantly related to anything in Child.
Rosaleen sings them straight, with no frills or affectation, and the accompaniments include her own guitar, plus octave mandolin, banjo, hurdy-gurdy, flute, whistles, Border pipes and Northumbrian smallpipes. The musicians rarely play ensemble, and they have resisted the temptation to which some modern bands succumb, who thrash away at a tune as if to bludgeon it to death. Indeed, the instrumentation is simple to the point of being sparse, and the arrangements have a curiously old-fashioned sound. This is not a criticism; the simplicity allows the song to speak for itself and the singer’s voice to carry the story and set the mood, and this is clearly a deliberate decision. Rosaleen’s diction is also very clear, and there is never any difficulty following the words.
But there is a small personal quibble which I have with ballad singing in general, which is relevant here, and which concerns what performers choose to do with accent and pronunciation. Many of the songs are of Scottish origin, but if the singer is not Scottish, there is a potential problem. The worst crime of all is a full-blown fake accent, which Rosaleen does not attempt, thank heaven, but it can also grate when certain words are left in for effect – people gang places, sometimes hame, have dochters, and blood trickles doon, while in the rest of the song the pronunciation is how the singer speaks. In the old days, an English singer learning a Scottish song would have naturally anglicized it, and vice versa, and I suggest that that is still the best way.
Compilers of Child-based projects often feel beholden to the great man’s memory, and provide copious scholarly notes, but again Gregory takes a simpler route. The CD notes comment briefly on the songs’ plot lines, but do not give information as to sources or influences, and the website gives the words of the songs, but little more. If you like your Child ballads sung ably but simply, this is a CD for you.
Steve Roud, Maresfield, East Sussex
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Sheath and Knife presents 12 ballads, including “The Gypsy Laddie” and the “Trumpeter of Fyvie”, and lesser-known items like “The Burning of Auchindoon”,although one of them, “The Lowlands of Holland”, is only distantly related to anything in Child.
Rosaleen sings them straight, with no frills or affectation, and the accompaniments include her own guitar, plus octave mandolin, banjo, hurdy-gurdy, flute, whistles, Border pipes and Northumbrian smallpipes. The musicians rarely play ensemble, and they have resisted the temptation to which some modern bands succumb, who thrash away at a tune as if to bludgeon it to death. Indeed, the instrumentation is simple to the point of being sparse, and the arrangements have a curiously old-fashioned sound. This is not a criticism; the simplicity allows the song to speak for itself and the singer’s voice to carry the story and set the mood, and this is clearly a deliberate decision. Rosaleen’s diction is also very clear, and there is never any difficulty following the words.
But there is a small personal quibble which I have with ballad singing in general, which is relevant here, and which concerns what performers choose to do with accent and pronunciation. Many of the songs are of Scottish origin, but if the singer is not Scottish, there is a potential problem. The worst crime of all is a full-blown fake accent, which Rosaleen does not attempt, thank heaven, but it can also grate when certain words are left in for effect – people gang places, sometimes hame, have dochters, and blood trickles doon, while in the rest of the song the pronunciation is how the singer speaks. In the old days, an English singer learning a Scottish song would have naturally anglicized it, and vice versa, and I suggest that that is still the best way.
Compilers of Child-based projects often feel beholden to the great man’s memory, and provide copious scholarly notes, but again Gregory takes a simpler route. The CD notes comment briefly on the songs’ plot lines, but do not give information as to sources or influences, and the website gives the words of the songs, but little more. If you like your Child ballads sung ably but simply, this is a CD for you.
Steve Roud, Maresfield, East Sussex
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