This album is a Celtic Mid-Winter Celebration. We take you
wassailing from house to house, on "waits", or with a Mari Lwyd group,
to coax ale and cakes from the neighbors. (Wassail, by the way, from a
Saxon(!!) phrase meaning "be well", is a potent warm drink of spiced
ale.) We soothe you with lullabies, get you dancing, and even singing
along - on strange ancient carols, or with some of the old familiar
standards.
So join us by the fire, with a cup of wassail, spiced with nutmeg &
ginger!
About the sound bytes.
The complete lyrics may be viewed here.
Please to See The King is the tune of a carol from Pembrokeshire,
South Wales. It commemorates an ancient ritual in which boys hunt a
wren, the King of all birds, on St. Stephen's Day (Dec. 26). They then
carry it from house to house as a token of good luck. Since we are not
into dead birds, especially the day after Christmas when we've probably
got a hangover from all that wassail, we don't do the words.
The Gower Wassail, from the nearby Gower Peninsula, is another carol
for bringing in the luck. Collected by the Welsh folksinger, Philip
Tanner, it contains a great wassail recipe using elderberry, nutmeg and
ginger... Bernard - Flute, C whistle; Diana - Mandolins; Barbara - Lead
guitar, vocals, tambourine; Mike Melchione - Tremolo guitar. lyrics
The sound byte is 26 seconds of music (206K).
The Christ Child's Lullaby was collected by Marjorie Kennedy-Fraser
on the Isle of Eriskay in the Outer Hebrides, and translated from
Gaelic by Seamus Ennis. Barbara, the mother of two sons, believes that
every mother relates to the sentiments. To keep everyone from dozing
off, we follow it with the stunning boating song, Mist Covered
Mountains of Home, played as a slow march. Barbara - Lead and harmony
vocals, guitar; Diana - Cello; Bernard - Flute. lyrics
The sound byte is 27 seconds of music (218K).
'Ma Grun War 'N Gelynen, the Sans Day, or St. Day, Carol was
collected at St. Day, Cornwall, by one of the first Cornish bards. A
traditional Welsh carol tune provides a melodic transition into the
Holly & The Ivy which was first printed as an 18th Century
broadside ballad. The words we use in our version date from the 14th
Century and reflect the Celtic roots of the song. Rumor has it that the
song originated from a dance between lads (holly) and maids (ivy), as
they intertwined one with t'other — probably one of those Celtic
fertility things! Bernard arranged a choral treatment here as might be
heard in a Welsh chapel on Christmas morn. Barbara - Lead &, tenor
vocals, guitar; Bernard - Bass vocals, flute; Diana - Cittern; Elke
Baker - Fiddle lyrics
The sound byte is 22 seconds of music (175K).
We confess to including a medieval (14th Century) French chanson
from the Beaune area, but it fit in so well with these traditional
dances of the Pays Vannetais (S.E. Brittany), that we couldn't resist.
We follow the song with an An Dro in the Kan ha Diskan fashion
(literally Song & Unsong) and part of a Laridé à Six
Temps. The reprise of the song is sung against another variation of the
An Dro, carried by the flute. The words - I saw the wolf, the fox &
the hare 1)Getting drunk, and I shouted back at them 2)I heard them
sing, and I grimaced at them 3)I saw them dance, and I myself turned
them around - prove that no nation has a corner on the market for silly
drinking songs. Barbara - Vocals, guitars, bodhrán; Diana -
Mandolin, cittern; Bernard - Flute, D whistle, doumbek lyrics
The sound byte is 20 seconds of music (161K).
Tra Va Ruggit Creest, an ancient carol, traditionally had unending
verses and was sung on Christmas Eve. We play it as a short
instrumental, seguéing seamlessly into the best known of Manx
lullabies. Bernard unearthed this version in the Vaughan Williams
Memorial Library in London. The words here are a combination of
versions culled from many variants. Sing along on those choruses!
Bernard - C whistle, flute; Diana - Cittern, cello; Barbara - Vocals,
guitar lyrics
The sound byte is 30 seconds of music (240K).
Depending on the Welsh dialect, Mari Lwyd may mean either "Holy
Mary" or "grey mare" (one of those linguistic subtleties which might
get one into big trouble). In the Mari Lwyd tradition, a horse figure
was carried from door to door by wassail singers during the Christmas
season. The group would sing prescribed stanzas, asking permission to
enter the house. Next followed the "pwnco" or versifying contest with
an opponent within the house, describing each other's singing,
drunkenness, stinginess, etc. Victory ensured that the singers were
offered cakes, ale and perhaps a cash contribution. Our intrepid Welsh
advisor, Cheryl Mitchell says both the songs in this set are in little
known dialects. Barbara apologizes if her pronunciation has
inadvertently insulted anyone's mare.
Cwrw Da (Fine Ale) is a slip jig in 9/8 time. On a visit to Wales, we
were gratified to see a sign stating "Cwrw Da" outside a pub in Bala.
Of course we had to verify the claim personally!
As per usual, Y Wassael praises both the ale and the wassailers, before
ending with good wishes and seasonal greetings to all. Barbara -
Tambourine, lead and harmony vocals, bodhrán, guitar; Bernard -
D whistle, harmony vocals, flute; Diana - Mandolin, cello lyrics
The sound byte is 22 seconds of music (181K).
Christmas carols in Irish Gaelic are scarce (something to do with
the English, no doubt). This one tells the traditional Nativity story,
closing with seasonal wishes of peace on Earth. We follow it with the
tune from a Galician carol (out of the Cancionero Musical by Pedrell.)
Bernard - flute; Diana - Cello; Barbara - Vocals, guitar lyrics
The sound byte is 27 seconds of music (216K).
There was a Pig is an old agrarian mummers' carol from Bedfordshire,
linking the Christmas season with the cycle of planting and harvesting.
Such carols were mimed, often in wicker headdress or costume, by the
men of the village. This time we follow on with another of those
wassail songs, this one from Yorkshire, expressing many of the same
sentiments that we've sung before...Barbara - Lead and harmony vocals,
guitar, bodhrán; Bernard - Harmony vocals, doumbek, flute; Diana
- Cittern lyrics
The sound byte is 27 seconds of music (213K).
We precede this Breton carol with an air from the Lié
district of the Côte d'Armor, which just seems to want to go with
it. Nolwenn Monjarret, an outstanding Breton chanteuse, helped us with
the pronunciation and translation of the words of this lovely carol,
which tells of the joyful singing in Heaven and Earth on the night of
the first Christmas. Our sprightly interpretation the second time
around is a departure from the more stately Breton approach, and
suggests that the tune might originally have been a dance. Bernard -
flute; Diana - Cello, cittern; Barbara - Vocals, guitar lyrics
The sound byte is 25 seconds of music (197K).
This secular carol is the Welsh inspiration for the better known
Deck the Halls. Those who are cold, whether from loneliness, poverty or
the snows on Mount Snowdon, are exhorted to enjoy the warmth of the
holidays. Y Gelynnen, a holly kind of tune from Anglesey, leads into a
thumping rendition of Deck the Halls as most of us know it. Barbara -
lead vocals, guitar, bodhrán; Bernard - flute, D whistle,
harmony vocals; Diana - mandolin, cello, harmony vocals lyrics
The sound byte is 27 seconds of music
(219K).
While the song is often attributed to Rabbie Burns, he only claimed
authorship of the 3rd and 4th verses. Burns, Scotland's greatest poet,
was also a passionate Scottish folklorist. He collected Auld Lang Syne
"from an old man's singing" and submitted it to the British Museum. We
use his original tune, an old drinking song, ending with a chorus of
the more modern and better known melody. Elke's fiddles echo Rabbie's
version as we bid our listeners Auld Lang Syne. Diana - Cello; Elke
Baker - Fiddle; Barbara - Vocals, guitar; Bernard - Flute lyrics
The sound byte is 19 seconds of music
(154K).
Total Running Time - 49:11
Credits:
Produced by Barbara Ryan & Bernard Argent
Sound Engineering & Mixing - Scott Shuman & Mike Melchione
Recorded at - Shuman Recording, Inc., Falls Church, VA (703) 237-5677
Mastering - Lee Anne Sonenstein & David Glasser, Airshow Inc.,
Art Direction &Design - Steven Parke, WHAT? design (410) 327-9363
Photography - Bryan Burris, Studio 3C; Joyce Parke
Photo of Callanish, Isle of Lewis, Scotland - Barbara Ryan
Liner notes by Bernard & Barbara
All tracks traditional, arranged by IONA © 1996, Barnaby
Productions, Inc
With special thanks to Cheryl Mitchell, Nolwenn Monjarret, Katell Thielemann, Betsy O'Malley, Grace Griffith (for help with Auld Lang Syne), our patient and supportive families, Betsy McFadden, Argus Tresidder, Chris & Mark Ryan (and in memory of Joyce Argent and Nancy Tresidder who died before they could hear this album), friends and loyal fans of IONA.
And, of course, to Barnaby!
Also to Mary Cliff and Tony Sica without whose dedication to folk music, musicians like us could not be heard.
Instruments: Barbara plays an Ovation Legend guitar and beats a Charlie Byrne bodhrán. Bernard's flute was made by Eugene Lambe, whistles by Glen Schultz of Thin Weazle. Diana's cello is by Weaver, 5 course cittern by Nathan Sweet, and mandolin by Flatiron
For a copy of the lyrics of the songs on this album, with translations, send $1.50 to Barnaby Productions, PO Box 11160, Burke, VA 22009-1160.
BackDocument last modified on July 5, 2006 - IONA.