1. Black Nag
Playford 1651
Apryl Knight - bowed psaltery
Mark the Harper - harp and panflute
2. Salley Gardens
Music - Maids of the Mourne Shore
Words - William Butler Yeats
Apryl Knight - flute and vocals
Mark the Harper - harp
Down by the salley gardens my love and I did meet;
She passed the salley gardens with little snow-white feet.
She bid me take love easy, as the leaves grow on the tree;
But I, being young and foolish, with her would not agree.
In a field by the river my love and I did stand,
And on my leaning shoulder she laid her snow-white hand.
She bid me take life easy, as the grass grows on the weirs;
But I was young and foolish, and now am full of tears.
3. Korobushka
19th century Ukrainian
Apryl Knight - flute
Mark the Harper - harp
4. Sumer Is Icumen In
Harleian Ms 978 13th century
Apryl Knight - harp and vocals
Mark the Harper - harp and vocals
Svmer is icumen in.
Lhude sing cuccu.
Groweþ sed
and bloweþ med
and springþ the wde nu.
Sing cuccu.
Awe bleteþ after lomb,
lhouþ after calue cu.
Bulluc sterteþ,
bucke uerteþ,
murie sing cuccu.
Cuccu cuccu.
Wel singes þu cuccu
ne swik þu naver nu.
Sing cuccu nu. Sing cuccu.
Sing cuccu. Sing cuccu nu.
5. Maltese Bransle
Schiarazula Marazula - Giorgio Mainerio
Apryl Knight - harp and bodhran
Mark the Harper - harp
6. We Be Soldiers Three
Thomas Ravenscroft
Apryl Knight - bodhran and vocals
Mark the Harper - harp, recorder, and vocals
We be soldiers three,
Pardonnez-moi je vous en prie,
Lately come forth from the low country,
With never a penny of money.
Come, good fellow, I drink to thee,
Pardonnez-moi je vous en prie,
To all good fellows where ever they be,
with never a penny of money.
We be soldiers three,
Pardonnez-moi je vous en prie,
Lately come forth from the low country,
With never a penny of money.
Come, good fellow, I'll sing you a song,
Sing for the brave and sing for the strong.
To all those living and those who have gone,
With never a penny of money.
We be soldiers three,
Pardonnez-moi je vous en prie,
Lately come forth from the low country,
With never a penny of money.
And he that will not pledge me this,
Pardonnez-moi je vous en prie,
pays for the shot whatever it is,
with never a penny of money.
We be soldiers three,
Pardonnez-moi je vous en prie,
Lately come forth from the low country,
With never a penny of money.
7. Danny Boy
Music - Londonderry Air
Words - Frederick Weatherly
Apryl Knight - flute and vocals
Mark the Harper - harp and vocals
Oh, Danny Boy, the pipes, the pipes are calling
From glen to glen, and down the mountain side.
The summer's gone, and all the roses falling,
'Tis you, 'tis you must go and I must bide.
But come ye back when summer's in the meadow,
Or when the valley's hushed and white with snow,
For I'll be here in sunshine or in shadow,
Oh, Danny Boy, oh Danny Boy, I love you so!
8. Amoroso
15th century Italian
Apryl Knight - bowed psaltery
Mark the Harper - harp
9. Lass of Aughrim
Music - Tulstin Troubadours
Words - traditional
Apryl Knight - vocals
Mark the Harper - harp and vocals
Well if you be the Lass of Aughrim
As I suppose you to be,
Come give me that token
That passed between you and me.
Ah, Gregory, don't you remember
That night on the hill?
When we swapped rings off each other's hands
Surely against my will.
Mine was of the beaten gold,
Yours but black tin.
Yes, mine was of the beaten gold,
Yours but black tin.
Oh, the rain falls on my yellow locks,
And dew soaks my skin;
My babe lies cold in my arms;
Lord Gregory, let me in.
Oh, the rain falls on my heavy locks,
And dew soaks my skin;
My babe lies cold in my arms;
But none will let me in.
10. Greensleeves
1580-1584, Traditional English
Apryl Knight - bowed psaltery and vocals
Mark the Harper - harp and vocals
Alas, my love, you do me wrong,
To cast me off discourteously.
For I have loved you oh so long,
Delighting in your company.
Greensleeves was all my joy
Greensleeves was my delight,
Greensleeves was my heart of gold,
And who but my lady greensleeves.
Thou couldst desire no earthly thing,
But still thou hadst it readily.
Thy music still to play and sing;
And yet thou wouldst not love me.
Greensleeves was all my joy
Greensleeves was my delight,
Greensleeves was my heart of gold,
And who but my lady greensleeves.
Ah, Greensleeves, now farewell, adieu,
To God I pray to prosper thee,
For I am still thy lover true,
Come once again and love me.
Greensleeves was all my joy
Greensleeves was my delight,
Greensleeves was my heart of gold,
And who but my lady greensleeves.
11. Old Grey Cat
Traditional Irish
Apryl Knight - pennywhistle
Mark the Harper - harp and recorder
Recording and Mixing by Neal Tibrewala, Tibrewala Studios, and
Larry Gillis, Stone Lantern Studios
All Mastering by Larry Gillis, Stone Lantern Studios
No hedgehogs were harmed in the making of this album (just embarrassed a bit.)
1. Southwind (An Ghaoth Aneas)
c. 1700s by Domhnall Meirgeach Mc Con Mara (Freckled Donal Macnamara), Irish
Apryl Knight - bowed psaltery and piano
2. #100 of the Cantigas de Santa Maria (Strela Do Dia)
1221–1284 Galician-Portuguese, collected/composed by King Alfonso X of Castile
Apryl Knight - bowed psaltery, guitar, and tambourine
3. The Month Of January
Traditional, arr. April D. Porter (Apryl Knight)
Apryl Knight - vocals, bowed psaltery, and piano
It was in the month of January, all in the frost and snow,
As over hills and valleys, a wandering I did go.
It was there I spied a pretty fair maid, with a salt tear in her eye.
She held a baby in her arms, and bitterly she did cry.
Saying "Cruel was my father to bar the door on me,
And cruel was my mother, this dreadful crime to see.
Cruel was my own true love to change his heart for gold,
And cruel was that winter's night that pierced my heart with cold."
"Oh, the taller that the pine tree grows, the sweeter is the bark.
And the fairer that a young man speaks, the falser is his heart.
He will kiss you and embrace you, 'till he thinks he has you won,
Then he'll go away and leave you all for some other one."
"So come all you pretty fair young maids, a warning take by me,
And never try to build your nest on top of any tall tree.
For the roots, they will all wither, and the branches will decay,
And the blushes of a false young man, will all soon fade away."
4. Blooming Love
1997 by April D. Porter (Apryl Knight)
Apryl Knight - piano
5. #353 of the Cantigas de Santa Maria (Quen a omagen da Virgen)
1221–1284 Galician-Portuguese, collected/composed by King Alfonso X of Castile
Apryl Knight - bowed psaltery and tambourine
6. The Cat On The Stairs
2002 by William Haines (Thanks, Bill!)
April Knight - penny whistle, bodhran, and bones
Bill says "I originally wrote it as a hornpipe though it can be played as a slow reel,
but it does have more of a swing to it as a hornpipe - but not too dotted(!)
. The title "The Cat on the Stairs" (aka "Tabby's Revenge") is a reference
to a cat (called Dylan) I used to live with and who used to spend a lot of
time sitting on the stairs watching (and occasionally, if he was in a grumpy
mood, "batting" the other two cats in the house (who were siblings) if they
tried to pass and occasionally tripping up the humans who lived in the house
as well!"
7. (Polar) Bear Dance
16th century Belgium (3rd section Michael Gartner)
Apryl Knight - bowed psaltery and bodhran
8. Mouse Dance
Traditional Yiddish/Ukrainian
Apryl Knight - pianonomicon and tambourine
9. The Wind And The Rain
1601 by William Shakespeare, from “Twelfth Night”
Apryl Knight - vocals and bowed psaltery
When that I was and a little tiny boy,
With hey, ho, the wind and the rain,
A foolish thing was but a toy,
For the rain it raineth every day.
But when I came to man’s estate,
With hey, ho, the wind and the rain,
‘Gainst knaves and thieves men shut the gate,
For the rain it raineth every day.
But when I came, alas! to wive,
With hey, ho, the wind and the rain,
By swaggering could I never thrive,
For the rain it raineth every day.
But when I came unto my beds,
With hey, ho, the wind and the rain,
With toss-pots still had drunken heads,
For the rain it raineth every day.
A great while ago the world begun,
With hey, ho, the wind and the rain,
But that’s all one, our play is done,
And we’ll strive to please you every day.
10. #166 of the Cantigas de Santa Maria (Como Poden)
1221–1284 Galician-Portuguese, collected/composed by King Alfonso X of Castile
Apryl Knight - bowed psaltery and bodhran
11. Uskudar
19th century, Turkish (and many others)
Apryl Knight - bowed psaltery, bodhran, and zills
12. She Moved Through The Faire
Melody - Medieval Irish
Words - Traditional/Padraic Colum
Apryl Knight - vocals
I once had a sweetheart,
I loved her so well
I loved her far better
than my tongue could tell
Her parents they slight me
for my want of gear
So adieu to you darling,
since you are not here
My young love said to me,
My mother won't mind
And my father won't slight you
For your lack of kind.
And she laid her hand on me
And this she did say:
It will not be long, Love,
'til our wedding day.
She went away from me
and she moved through the faire
Where hand-slapping dealers'
loud shouts rent the air
The sunlight around her
did sparkle and play
Saying it won't be long now
'til our wedding day.
Her skirts floated 'round her
as she moved through the faire
And fondly I watched her
Move here and move there.
As she made her way homeward,
With one star awake,
As the swan in the evening
Moved over the lake.
When dew falls on meadow
and moths fill the night
When glow of the embers
on hearth throws half-light
I'll slip from the casement
and we'll run away
And it will not be long love
'til our wedding day
The people were saying,
No two e'er were wed
But one had a sorrow
That never was said.
And I smiled as she passed
With her goods and her gear,
And that was the last
That I saw of my dear
Last night she came to me,
My own love came in.
So softly she came
That her feet made no din.
As she laid her hand on me,
And this she did say:
It will not be long, love,
'til our wedding day.