Entries Related To: england

Aililiú na gamhna, song / Mary O’Hara, singing in Irish

Bungle Rye / Anthony Power

Bungle Rye, song (As I went a-walking a fair London Street …) This early 19th-century broadside ballad is a warning about the dangers of female wiles. The protagonist is tricked into paying 20 shillings for a basket that he thinks contains a bottle of liquor. Instead it contains a baby, whom he christens John Bungle Rye.  In many versions of this song, the phrase “Bung yer eye” appears instead of “Bungle Rye.” Indeed, Kenneth Peacock includes this song in Songs of the Newfoundland Outports 3, under the title “Young Bung-’er’eye,” noting that “bung-yer-eye” is an old sailing term for strong rum or hard liquor (1965:895–6).

Catherine McEvoy, flute / Steven de Paoire

Chaucer’s miller, pipes / unidentified artist

Delaney’s chicken, song / Mikey Kelleher, singing in English

Donnybrook fair, jig / John-Joe Healy, concertina

Fergus McTeggert’s jig ; Untitled, jig / Fergus McTeggert, fiddle

Gregg’s pipes, reel / John Blake, flute

Horslips, group, DVD promotional poster

In Yorkshire city / Bride Judge

In Yorkshire city, song (Oh, in Yorkshire city there dwelled a maiden …) This murder ballad tells the tale of a woman who falls in love with her father’s servant. He poisons her when she declines his proposal, and then, stricken by remorse, he kills himself. The song exists in many variant versions of the lyrics; it is also known as “Oxford city,” “The cup of poison,” “The jealous lover,” or, simply, “Jealousy.”  The melody given here is used also for other songs performed by Cape Shore singers.

Instruments made by Andy Tobin [photograph] / Andy Tobin

Jill Pidd, singer, 1995 / Ken Garland