George Collins is a handsome young man with his whole life ahead of him, so why does he die within a few short verses and leave a trail of devastation in his wake?

Today’s episode takes us back to supernatural legends from medieval Northern Europe, in which brave young men are easily seduced. We also travel across the Atlantic to meet a dying hobo who wandered into this song sometime in the late 19th Century.

In the end, these legends are a legacy of the things we didn’t properly understand. Nonetheless, if you do meet a beautiful maiden by the riverside it’s best just to back away, jump on your horse and ride home as fast as you can.

Music

Verses from two different versions of George Collins as recorded in the Folk Song Society Journey 1909: https://archive.org/details/sim_folk-song-society-journal_1909_3_13/page/300/mode/2up

Traditional Breton Tune

Faroese Folk Tune – Grímur á Miðjanesi

Incidental music – Rosebud in June

The historic American recording, and many others, can be found here: https://www.mustrad.org.uk/articles/collins.htm

Final song: This is the version sung by Shirley Collins on The Sweet Primroses, 1967. I’ve slowed it down and recorded it with a guitar accompaniment which is somewhat inspired by Dolly Collins’ beautiful organ arrangement.

References

Bluegrass Messengers - George Collins- Barbara M. Cra'ster 1910

https://archive.org/details/englishscottishp22chilrich/page/278/mode/2up?view=theater

https://www.mustrad.org.uk/articles/collins.htm

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gwerz_an_Aotrou_Nann

https://balladspot.blogspot.com/2016/03/sir-olof-and-elves.html

https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=xlIJAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA161&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false

https://archive.org/details/sim_folk-song-society-journal_1909_3_13/page/300/mode/2up

https://archive.org/details/folksongsofsouth00coxj/page/110/mode/2up

What a time we had, talking about the bones and the spirit of the Wassail. The Lunatraktors, Carli and Clair, get right to the heart of things with their "Broken Folk" which provides an anchor, a refuge and solace, a shamanic art and a collective experience. They are experts at asking questions of our tradition, and passionate about telling the stories that have been hidden or lost.

The Wassail is about apples and cider and community and collectivism and so much more, and Lunatraktors' embodied approach to folk turns this an intense experience. We explore both the light and the dark of recent history and ask: what will be left when the apocalypse comes? Folk. The answer is folk, and it can be deeply healing.

But in the end you have to laugh. Their music can be dark and tragic but it is also playful and fun and, after we'd unpicked the state of everything, we were all gurning.

Content warning: This episode includes a discussion about suicide

Music

Now The Time

Rigs of the Time

Unquiet

Apple Tree Wassail

Songs are all from Lunatraktors, and if you want more please visit their website: https://www.lunatraktors.space/ or find all the points of connection on linktr.ee/lunatraktors

After all the festivities of Christmas Day are over, what could be better than to run around the village and hunt a tiny little bird with all your neighbours. This special St Stephen's Day episode explores the strange custom of wren hunting in the British Isles. Hang on to your hats, it's going to be a weird one.

Music
Hunt the Wren, a Manx song
Medieval French tune (known to me as 'Dancing Bears' but YMMV)
The Cutty Wren, to the tune of Green Bushes (thanks A. L. Lloyd!)

References
Many thanks go to two websites: Mainly Norfolk and the Ballad Index, for such detailed information about this song.

Other references include:

Mona Melodies: https://www.manxmusic.com/media/History%20photos/MONA%20MELODIES%202020%20full%20transcription.pdf

Charles Barrow (1820) Mona Melodies https://www.manxmusic.com/media/History%20photos/MONA%20MELODIES%202020%20full%20transcription.pdf

A W Moore (1891) The Folklore of the Isle of Man

George Waldron (1744) The History and Description of the Isle of Man

Vallancy, Charles (1770) Collectanea de rebus hibernicis. T. Ewing, Dublin https://archive.org/details/collectaneadere09vallgoog/page/n1/mode/2up

https://mainlynorfolk.info/ian.campbell/songs/thecuttywren.html

John Aubrey’s Remaines of Gentilisme and Judaisme https://archive.org/details/remainesgentili01aubrgoog

Muller, S. (1996). The Irish Wren Tales and Ritual. To Pay or Not to Pay the Debt of Nature. Béaloideas, 64/65, 131–169. https://doi.org/10.2307/20522463