Folk Alley Sessions: Anaïs Mitchell & Jefferson Hamer - "Willie's Lady (Child 6)"

[@gharcourt1]

Child Ballads is pretty close to being a perfect album.

[@agnese6067]

King Willie, he sailed over the raging foam He's wooed a wife and he's brought her home He's brought her home all against his mother's will His mother wrought her a wicked spell And a wicked spell she's laid on her She'd be with child for long and many's the year But the child she would never bear And in her bower she lies in pain King Willie by her bedside he would stand As down his cheeks sodden tears do run King Willie, back to his mother he did run And he's gone there as a beggin' son Says "My true love has this fine, noble steed The likes of which you have never seen And at every part of this horse's mane There's hangin' fifty silver bells and ten Hangin' fifty bells and ten This goodly gift shall be your own If back to my own true love you'll turn again So she might bear her baby son" "O of the child she'll never lighter be Nor from my curse will she e'er be free But she will die and she will turn to clay And you will wed with another maid" And sighing, says this weary man As back to his own true love he's gone again: "I wish my life was at an end" King Willie back to his mother he did run And he's gone there as a beggin' son Says "My true love has this fine, golden girdle Set with jewels all about the middle And at every part of this girdle's hem There's hangin' fifty silver bells and ten Hangin' fifty bells and ten This goodly gift shall be your own If back to my own true love you'll turn again So she might bear her baby son This goodly gift shall be your own "O of the child she'll never lighter be Nor from my curse will she e'er be free But she will die and she will turn to clay And you will wed with another maid" And sighing, says this weary man As back to his own true love he's gone again: "I wish my life was at an end" And up and spoke his noble Queen And she has told King Willie of a plan How she might bear her baby son Says "You must get you down to the marketplace And you must buy a ball of wax And you must shape it as a babe that is to nurse And you must make two eyes of glass And ask your mother to the christening-day And you must stand there close as you can be So you might hear what she does say King Willie, he's gone down to the marketplace He has bought a ball of wax And he has shaped it as a babe that is to nurse And he has made two eyes of glass He asked his mother to the christening-day And he has stood there close as he could be So he might hear what she did say And how she spat and how she swore She spied the babe where no babe could be before She spied the babe where none could be before Says "Who was it who undid the nine witch knots Braided in amongst this lady's locks? And who is it is who the leather shoe untied From the left foot of this wedded bride? And who was it split the silken thread The spider stretched all beneath this lady's bed The spider stretched all beneath her bed?" And it was Willie who undid the nine witch knots Braided in amongst this lady's locks And it was Willie who the leather shoe untied From the left foot of this wedded bride And it was Willie split the silken thread The spider stretched all beneath this lady's bed The spider stretched all beneath her bed And she has borne him a baby son And great are the blessings that be then upon Great are the blessings then upon

[@razmataz31]

This is freaking wonderful.

[@SuperMIKEFREE]

Anais&Jefferson must be best folk duo since Simon&Garfunkel, these guys are seriously good.

[@megatrollificus]

Too bad it appears to have been a temporary configuration. Their voices are remarkable together and I think Hamer has a rare gift for arranging guitar parts.

[@megatrollificus]

Also not to be overlooked, anything that says "Folk Alley Sessions" is recorded WONDERFULLY. Whether it's good equipment or rare expertise, every one of their recording sessions is truly superior.

[@davidwoodcock8042]

@@megatrollificus Well said! Every time I revisit this glorious and utterly gorgeous performance, a part of me always thinks "Wow! That loveliness aside, the recording in itself is amazing!" Good gear, perfectly placed, and remarkable skill, a delightful combination. 😊 Oh, and I suspect sorcery might have been involved somewhere along the way 🤫

[@fingling8]

This is the best bit of music I have heard, for my tastes of course, in ... decades. Unbearably pleasing. Wow. I've heard of, but not heard, her; never heard of him. Wow!

[@fingal42]

This whole set is brilliant. A superb interpretation.

[@drumcconaughy330]

Fantastic performance!

[@JimB73C]

Yea! Folk music is alive and well! Most excellent!

[@christineanderson6233]

Brilliant musicianship and harmonies

[@bjornekbjornek]

Wonderful. Thank you!

[@quackity2000]

Very nice.

[@allanthorsgaard9213]

Damn! You are good ❤❤

[@MrGreeneggsandjam]

Superb flow and timing.

[@chrismenza4257]

Anais has got it goin' on!

[@velocitygirl8551]

Wow her voice!!!!

[@ScottatHouseonaHill]

Absolutely love this!

[@tubahead16]

Very Beautiful what a fantastic duo .

[@danielgrenier2417]

Nothing short of brilliant, this!

[@lenderpro]

Sweet, perfect vocals and precise musical fit! Perfect! Anais and Jefferson shine! You got my attention!

[@ajude234]

This is an absolutely amazing version of this song.

[@temriver]

What a great use of talent. Hooked.

[@angelirak01]

so great !

[@PrinzZombie]

i know the tune only in german, where the text is a drinking song... expected something wildly different when i heard the tunes and was pleasantly surprised.

[@XenoBeano]

Yes its a traditional Breton song i believe, called Son ar Christr (or Ev Christr ta laou). varients of it are found all over - in french, celtic, german, dutch scandanavian folk traditions. These words were put to it relatively recently

[@hulkgreen132]

love Middle Ages music) words are in english but realy melody frome France (Breton). greetings from Armenia where your ancestors came to Europe)))))

[@KamikazethecatII]

Armenians are a very ancient Indo-European people but it's disputed where exactly Indo-Europeans came from. Good chance they came from the Southern Russia/Ukraine area (Yamnaya people).

[@raphaelward1711]

Hulk Green hello from London, really? We came from Armenia? My dad came from Wales and the Welsh nationalists tell me that's the oldest language in Europe, older than Hebrew or Aramaic but not as old as Sanskrit or Tamil, some Celts reckon they were here before we got invaded by European dark skinned Caucasians.

[@SonnyJoiner]

Brilliant!

[@crisrevoxiv]

great music

[@raphaelward1711]

Took ages trying to count in four thinking what's going on with it rhythmically, then I started counting in pairs of three and it made sense, you forget about non 4/4 music if you listen modern

[@Trollificusv2]

So THAT'S what that is. Always interesting to find that something sounds unusual becasue it is. Thanx,

[@gregbrown8246]

Scooter are you ready 🤣🤣🤣

[@paolarstion]

Version également reprise par Alan Stivel (Bretagne, France) "Son ar chistr"

[@SanktGallus]

This is a very "cool" song - some 500 years old, so I'm told. I heard it a few days ago from these two, and then went to MARTIN CARTHY who recorded it in 1971. I play it from both versions with either E-D or A-G Chords and some melody. - It sounds a bit dark, but there seems to be a happy end at the end of the song, very strange! I think this real rapping how the lines are sung in such old songs with only few but very effective chord changes.

[@ToddAlanSloane]

"A bit dark" LOL. Yes, just a bit.

[@megatrollificus]

The instrumentation on the tunes is sparse because most of the very olde songs were originally sung a capella. When instruments were available it would often be as background accompaniment, they didn't carry the melody much compared to the voices. This is the kind of music that became, in similarly poor areas of the US, "porch music". Music that you played at home, absent any other media or entertainment, and every one participated. The scarcity of instruments explains people playing spoons, drumming on collanders and wash tubs, and the development of playing the saw, for people who had a bow, but no fiddle. My parents (going back to the early 20th century) were both raised in such environments, which kind of reflect that of Isles several hundred years ago...

[@egreendc]

What is the time signature of this song

[@trollingisme]

apologies; my audio jack lacks hackery.

[@problemchimp4231]

My god..that was good wasn't it?

[@robtherub]

she is an excellent songwriter - i predict a number one for "we build the wall" if donald trump wins

[@trollingisme]

who splattered this good music with AUTO-TUNE?

[@GingerMcNulty]

Balm

[@sk8muppet]

No-one? There isn't any that I can hear.

[@danielgrenier2417]

Is this good or what!

[@trollingisme]

Apologies.Just had my ears laminated.

[@DavidBerlinguette]

The mom in this tale is pure evil.

[@ScottatHouseonaHill]

No one.