Ho! Ho! and up she rises.
Ho! Ho! and up she rises.
Ho! Ho! and up she rises,
Early in the morning — c1839
These are the songs I'm currently performing around the SCA. Sources are readily available online. Some material mentioned on this page may still be under copyright. Wherever possible I've tried to provide links to the best original source or to the original author, and its Roud Number if available. Please respect authors and obey the laws of your jurisdiction.
Bryng Us In Good Ale from a manuscript in the Bodleian Library, c1480. How many songs do you know that praise both ale and the B.V.M? Roud 203
Can She Excuse My Wrongs, From Dowlands First Booke of Songes or Ayers, 1597. Covered by Sting.
The Fox A carol from the 15th Century. Remarkably, modern settings retain the rhythmic structure and rhyme scheme of the original. As is often the case, the song is long separated from its original melody.
Jog On, Jog On the Footpath Way was mentioned by Shakespeare in The Winter's Tale, 1623, but we don't believe it originated with him.
Juniper, Gentle, and Rosemarie, is from Riddles Wisely Expounded, Roud 161 and Child 1, known from at least 1450.
L'Homme Arme A secular song dating to no later than 1425. Over forty settings of the Mass Ordinary have used this tune as their basis.
Martin Said to his Man (Who's the Fool Now?) is another Ravenscroft in his collection Deuteromelia (1609). My version is via the delightful Heather Dale, who seems to be using lyrics chosen from Tim Hart & Maddy Prior, and Roberts and Barrand.
O Mi Belan This lovely Biscayan carol speaks of Blessed Bethlehem on the night of the Christ Child's birth.
Of Beere (Trudge Away Quickly) from Ravenscroft's collection Brief Discourse (1614)
Ríu Ríu Chíu Recorded in 1556 in the Cancionero de Upsala, usually attributed to Mateo Flecha the Elder, d1553.
Strike it Up Tabor, an anonymous poem set by Thomas Weelkes for three voices. Sadly there's only one of me.
We Be Soldiers Three, from Ravenscroft in Deuteromelia (1609). My version was inspired by the late and lamented Owain Pfyfe
Willow Song Used by Shakespeare in Othello in 1604, the earliest written version is from an anonymous lute book from 1583.
These songs are sound as if they could be Period, but missed the cut-off date, or just were written in the 20th Century in an approximately Period style.
In Fair Nottamun Town, Roud 1044, various sources from 1688, but the melody, drone that it be, is only traceable to the 18th C.
Full Fathom Five from Shakespeare's The Tempest, c1610. Happily we have the original melody
Hey, Ho, Nobody at Home was published by Thomas Ravenscroft in his 1609 collection Pamelia
Jack in the Green was included in an American CD of "traditional pagan songs of the British Isles" (sic) much to the surprise of the songwriter Martin Graebe. He recounts the story here.
Masters in This Hall, The tune, Marche pour les Matelots was written by Marin Marais for his opera Aicyone in 1706, where it's used to evoke the Olden Days of the 1500s. The most familiar lyrics were written in the 1860s by William Morris.
Sir Roger de Coverley A slip jig in 9/8, the earliest record of this song is in the 1695 edition of The English Dancing Master.
Born on the Listfield. Some years ago, the late Ivar Battleskald decided to do an experiment on oral song transmission. He wrote this song—to my ear it screams Bluegrass—and decreed that it should never be transmitted in written form, but only passed orally, his intention to trace the variations that developed. But so revered was Master Ivar that very little variation ever took place. I have only ever seen minor changes to spelling and punctuation.
Drums Over Pennsic written by Dame Lorelei Skye and recorded with Rosaleen Dhu. I first performed this at Midrealm Bardic Madness XIX for the Toot Someone Else's Horn Challenge. Dame Lorelei gave me a ring from her hand for being the first person she ever heard performing her music. I will treasure it always.
Savage Daughter was written by Wyndreth Berginsdottir (Karen Kahan) in 1990. As she says, "Accept No Substitutes." I rarely perform this myself, but am delighted to back up any Savage Daughter who sings it.
Bow to the Crown is from the incomparable Heather Dale, aka Mistress Marian of Heatherdale. My Dear Wife got to listen to me work up a performance of this song by repeating it something close to fifty times before its first performance at a Midrealm and Friends Virtual Bardic Gathering in February of 2021
These songs either refer to post-Period events, are about known post-Period people, describe post-Period technology, or are simply in a Modern style. Coltrain's Giant Steps belongs here, along with the entire Led Zeppelin catalog. Unlike Whole Lotta Love, I Have either performed these at informal circles, or heard other people perform them. If you're looking for clues about how modern a lyric might be, a brief article is here.
Ballad of Captain Kidd Written in "honor" of the execution for piracy of William Kidd in 1701. Though the song was written in the Baroque period it uses quite Modern I-IV-V chord progressions. Roud 1900
Donkey Riding is a variant of the 1840s sea shanty Hieland Laddie, updated for the age of steam. A "Donkey" is a (more or less) stationary steam engine. Roud 4691
Follow the Band British 1920s Music Hall song. Decidedly "After Midnight and Adult Beverages" fare. The compilers of the Roud Index haven't caught up with this one yet
Molly Mallone first surfaced in Boston in 1876. There is an 1884 London edition that states "by permission of Kohler and Son of Edinburgh " which suggests an earlier Scottish edition existed, though no copies are known as of this writing. Roud 16932
Moonshiner is an interesting case. There's no agreement about its origin. It is variously cataloged is as Irish or Quebecois. The earliest record of the song I've found 1925. The term "moonshine" was first used for illegal distilled spirits in the late 18th Century in both Appalachia as well as in Scotland. Roud 4301
River Drivers' Lament is believed to come from Newfoundland in the 19th Century. It was collected variously around Maine and Newfoundland in the early 1920s Roud 4564
Wild Mountain Thyme is a variation of the song Braes of Balquhither by the Scottish poet Robert Tannahill, published in The Scottish Minstrel in 1824. This variant was published in 1854. Roud 541
Wild Rover appears to have it's origin in an 18th Century temperance song. That it is seldom sung at temperate gatherings is somewhat ironic. The Roud Folk Song Index lists over 200 versions. Roud 1173
A good chunk of the Cantigas de Santa Maria are just too racist by 21st Century standards. The gems are well-known and worth doing, but this in particular is a good reminder that Just because a song is Period doesn't mean we Should sing it.
Chemical Worker's Lament. Way too modern an industry to pass, even when everyone's inebriated.
The Old Dun Cow. I've heard this done, but as a performer I Just Don't Like it. 1920s music hall. It's not a bad song, though some of the recorded versions strike me with a "What were they Thinking?"
One time at an event, a young man much the worse for alcohol consumption got up at the bardic circle to sing That Song. Now we in the Bardic community always try to cultivate a Bardic Safe Zone, and if it takes the man a wee...or even a large...dram to get up the courage, well, we meet him where he is.
Twenty minutes later, he stood up to sing That Song again, somewhat more inebriated. In under an hour he'd sang it three times. When I tottered off to bed his song arose over and again. I have no idea how many more times he sang it.
If I told you the title, you'd know it was yet another British music hall song from the 1920s. If I told you the lyrics he sang, you could probably find the recording he learned it from.