October is the month for the weird, the macabre, the haunted. In other words, it’s the month for ancient murder ballads. Was listening to the Jerry Garcia/David Grisman “Shady Grove” collection yesterday as the wind blew in an autumn storm and hit repeat a couple of times on “Oh, The Dreadful Wind And Rain.”
There were two sisters came walkin’ down the stream
Oh the wind and rain
The one behind pushed the other one in
Cryin’ oh the dreadful wind and rainJohnny gave the youngest a gay gold ring
Oh the wind and rain
Didn’t give the oldest one anything
Cryin’ oh the dreadful wind and rainThey pushed her into the river to drown
Oh the wind and rain
And watched her as she floated down
Cryin’ oh the dreadful wind and rainFloated ’till she came to a miller’s pond
Oh the wind and rain
Mama oh father there swims a swan
Cryin’ oh the dreadful wind and rainThe miller pushed her out with a fishing hook
Oh the wind and rain
Drew that fair maid from the brook
Cryin’ oh the dreadful wind and rainHe left her on the banks to dry
Cryin’ oh the wind and rain
And a fiddlin’ fool come passing by
Cryin’ oh the dreadful wind and rainOut of the woods came a fidder fair
Oh the wind and rain
Took thirty strands of her long yellow hair
Cryin’ oh the dreadful wind and rainAnd he made a fiddle bow of her long yellow hair
Oh the wind and rain
He made a fiddle bow of her long yellow hair
Cryin’ oh the dreadful wind and rainHe made fiddle pegs of her long finger bones
Oh the wind and rain
He made fiddle pegs of her long finger bones
Cryin’ oh the dreadful wind and rainAnd he made a little fiddle of her breast bone
Oh the wind and rain
The sound could melt a heart of stone
Cryin’ oh the dreadful wind and rainAnd the only tune that the fiddle would play
Was oh the wind and rain
The only tune that the fiddle would play
Was oh the dreadful wind and rain
Sibling sexual rivalry, murder, fiddle pegs from finger bones. Song’s got it all. It’s an old one, dating back to at least 1656, and it takes a number of forms. Originating in Scotland as “The Twa Sisters,” it migrated across the water and put down roots in the Appalachian Highlands.
Here’s a fine version by Gillian Welch and David Rawlings:
Crooked Still… Oh, that’s purity…
And then there’s Loreena McKennitt’s variation “The Bonny Swans.”
Nothing like sitting by the fire on a blustery autumn night listening to the gruesome old ballads from three centuries and more ago.
deuce says
Great selections all! Here in SEK, it’s been raining steady (with titanic thunder) for 12+hrs. As you say, good weather for songs such as these.
Matthew says
That is truly macabre and deeply sad. People complain about darkness in heavy metal songs, but really this is nothing new.
JimC says
Hell, fairy tales are DARK. We’ve got nothing on our ancestors…
deuce says
Back in the ’90s, Rolling Stone asked Johnny Cash about lyrics in “modern rock” and he basically said “Look at ‘Folsom Prison Blues’ or the old murder ballads.” Johnny was so damned cool.
JimC says
Yep.
Matthew says
“Stagger Lee” is basically gangsta rap and it dates back to before the Civil War. “House of the Rising Sun” a song about gambling addiction does too.
These things aren’t actually new.
JimC says
Stagger Lee = OG
deuce says
Well, we might as well add “Whiskey in the Jar”: Whores, whiskey and pistols (“both barrels”). Oh, and shootin’ cops. Good enough for the 1600s, good enough for Thin Lizzy, good enough for Metallica. Plus, that tune got me laid in Ireland, so I’m biased. 🙂
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sMZMI2gFW54
JimC says
A grand one. Good to know the Irish lassies respond well to it.
Greg Marshall says
Garcia’s latter-years voice works really well on that version. Thanks for the others. I’d not heard the Loreena McKennit version
As a side note, there was a mediocre movie called ‘Songcatcher’ that dealt with the music of the hill country and made the explicit connection with the Scots-Irish. The plot was overly dramatic and romanticized but the sound track is still on my favourite playlists. It was the first time i heard “Oh, Death”. Chilling.
My family didn’t come over until the 1820’s, so we’re late Scots immigrants to North America. Stiff-necked Presbyterian Orangemen, all.
JimC says
Concur on Songcatcher. Melodramatic– but oh, the music!
john roberts says
The definitive version of “Oh, Death” was sung by my wife’s great-uncle, Dock Boggs. Just to brag.
JimC says
Dock Boggs?!?!?!? You married into some SERIOUS badass Old Weird America genes.
Oh, Death. Dock Boggs.
Wayne says
I recommended Ancient Tones & Death Knells by the High Strange Drifters to you in an earlier comment. and I urge you to take a moment on Amazon to listen to a sample of their rendition of this and other bloody Celtic ballads. The plus is their new song about Buffalo hunters.
JimC says
Off like a shot.
JimC says
Me like. Nice and creepy.
Wayne says
Reminds me of the bumper sticker message I saw on a young woman’s car the other day – Polite but just a little creepy.