Search - Various :: Forever England

What better way to begin than with a song that celebrates one of the oldest surviving customs in England, with origins that are believed to be in pagan times. The Floral Dance, written by Katie Moss in 1911, is a touching evocation of a charming event that takes place annually in Helston, that 'quaint old Cornish town'. We have Peter Dawson singing it in his famous recording. Remaining in the west, the beauty of Green Hills o'Somerset is so persuasively portrayed in Eric Coate's ballad sung by Joan Hammond. The poignant voice of Kathleen Ferrier is so quintessentially English. Blow The Wind Southerly, which she has made so uniquely hers, is an air from the North of England with words from a fragment in The Bishoprick Garland of 1834. The Newcastle Song Book, also referred to as The Tyne-Side Songster, is the source for another favourite sung by Kathleen Ferrier, The Keel Row. One of the best-loved of all Northumbrian folk songs is Dance To Your Daddy which is also known as 'When the Boat Comes In' and under this guise it became the title of a TV series in the 1970s. The song concerns the fisherman/father's return from the sea and is heavily laced with references to alcohol, so heavily, in fact, that one gets the impression that the whole family is incapable! Whilst on the subject of the 'demon drink', the reason why John Barleycorn remains one of the best known and most popular of all ballads is that is actually about that other activity which most commonly accompanies the singing of traditional songs - drinking! To complete this trio of drinking songs, we have a song that was written around the time that Napoleon threatened to invade England, circa 1800, Drink Old England Dry. From the Lincolnshire poacher to the famous floral dance, this album is a celebration of the English countryside. Folksy and nostalgic, it provides a gazetteer of favourite English places: those quiet corners where life, even in today's hectic world, has seemed to stand still. With this collection, we unfurl a splendid tapestry of British songs and music to reveal a rich tradition and its colourful textures. It spans the centuries, from the Restoration to the last century, and conjures up the sounds and colours of varied landscapes, from the heart of England to its maritime traditions.