BELLADONNA | The Ciderhouse Rebellion and Kirsty Merryn | from the album The Devil's On The Mast

Album out 2 June 2023: Order the book with CD/Download here bit.ly/TheDevi...
BELLADONNA
A Physic Garden - a beautiful woman - a man steeped in expertise in the tending and use of medicinal herbs - a cruel disappointment. Some medicinal plants, if used incorrectly, can also do considerable damage. Belladonna, in small doses, was used as an effective sleep remedy, but in larger doses- and in the wrong hands - can kill.
LYRICS (Kirsty Merryn)
Berries sweet, berries dark,
Berries stop a grown man’s heart,
Gather me at spark of dawn,
Mix me with sea holly thorn.
He visits me each early morn,
He eyes me with a baleful glare,
He loves and loathes me each in turn,
Both curse and covet in his stare.
I watch him hungry gaze at her,
With feverish eye and pallid face.
She bends to gather nut and burr,
He longs for her to grant him grace.
Berries bright, berries black,
Berries make your vision slack.
Gather me at morning’s dew,
Grind me down with feverfew.
He came to me again today.
With sharpest knife he stripped away
A leaf and stem, and berry black,
And furtive hid them behind his back.
I never saw her here again.
As I begin my winter’s sleep,
I see him pace his lonely tracks,
And often bend, and often weep.
Berries tart, berries bold,
Berries make your skin turn cold.
Gather me in softest silk,
Mix me down with poppy milk.
Physic gardens were common in big estates, one of the most well known being in Chelsea, founded in 1673 by the Worshipful Society of Apothecaries. Plants for healing were the main focus, but a good knowledge of poisons also came in handy ... especially in the machinations of political power. Later, plant-hunters searched the world for plants with useful powers, but also for economically useful plants. Physic Gardens sometimes became synonymous with kitchen gardens, which also grew plants for other purposes, such as for food and for dying cloth.
Belladonna was so named by Carl Linnaeus in the mid-1700s, in his new classification system; the name referring to the common use of the plant’s extract to dilate the pupils of a woman’s eyes, intended to render her more seductive - literally ‘beautiful woman’ or ‘bella donna’ in Italian. Its common English name - Deadly Nightshade - tells a different story and the plant has a commensurately long history as the poison of choice for the illustrious: it was, for example, said to be the favourite poison of the Emperor Augustus’s wife Livia.
Lyrics and vocals: Kirsty Merryn
Fiddle: Adam Summerhayes (The Ciderhouse Rebellion)
Accordion: Murray Grainger (The Ciderhouse Rebellion)
Movement director and choreographer: Deborah Kate Norris (Ballet Folk)
Dancer and choreographer: Anna Smith
Filmed, directed and edited by Todd Macdonald
Filmed at Normansfield Theatre, Teddinton. Chosen for its beautiful art work and also curiosities found in the space. Stairs, railings and flora/fauna in the murals.
theciderhouserebellion.com
kirstymerryn.com
balletfolk.co.uk
toddmacdonaldmedia.com