A song I remember from my holidays in Corfu as a child. It is played on a Seagull Merlin because I don't have a bouzouki! I apologies for butchering the beautiful Greek language!

O Tarzan

My tribute to and memories of the original British 1977 punk rock explosion.

(PS This is an updated version)

Out Of The Shadows

The folk song that showed me how powerful words alone can be. The true story of Thomas Crawley who was hanged for murder at Bedford gaol on 26th June 1833. The words came from a broadsheet published in 1833 and purporting to have been written by Crawley himself in the days leading up to his execution. I have some doubts about this though because there is very strong similarity in some of the phrasing with elements of the official court record describing the trial. Crawley appears to have been an uneducated man and so I suspect it could equally well have been written by someone else who attended the trial.

I first heard the song when it was being sung by Pete Castle at the Luton folk club in the early 80's. He used the tune of 'The Murder of Maria Martin' (of 'Red Barn' fame), a song with a similar story. Pete also recorded it on a cassette of local Bedfordshire folk songs of which I still have a treasured copy. Pete is still very active on the folk scene and I recommend you have a look at his website... www.petecastle.co.uk/.

Thomas Crawley

A track from the 1960's made famous by the brilliant Derek Brimstone. 
I modified verse two a bit.... what a  a liberty.....
There's a version of it on YouTube too where I can be seen  with my faithful Seagull guitar... www.youtube.com/watch?v=lG3nQdrpUAU

She Loved A Portuguese

What happens if the room you record in isn't soundproof.

rrrrrs

I always wanted to write a song about a horse ever since hearing the inspiration 'My Lovely Lovely Horse' by Father Ted..... no, but really, 
I wanted to write and sing a song about my home town and use a bit of the dialect. The pronunciation of the word 'horse' ('oss') is such a beautiful thing I wrote the whole song around it.

Fred The Owd Oss

I wanted to make a recording with my Seagull A6 guitar and my Seagull Merlin, to see what they sounded like together. The song I chose is 'Farewell To The Gold' written by Paul Metsers. It tells a sad tale of the hardships endured during the Otago gold-rush in New Zealand in the 1860's. If you like the song, the definitive version is by Nic Jones on his brilliant album 'Penguin Eggs'.

Farewell To The Gold

One of the most popular and widespread of all English traditional folk songs. Many counties in England have a version of this. It is, of course, about beer. The mainstream rock band Traffic even had a chart hit with their version of it in the 70's.

This version features a couple of guitars, a Merlin stick dulcimer, a riddle drum and a monkey stick for a 'Morris' feel.

John Barleycorn

Written by Frankie 'The Poet' MacNamara, a transported Irish convict in Australia, circa 1830. It concerns the Moreton Bay penal colony in Brisbane and it's notoriously cruel governor, Captain Logan. Logan was speared to death by aboriginals and the convicts rejoiced. The tune is a traditional Irish tune called Youghal Bay.

Moreton Bay

Scottish/Australian singer-songwriter Eric Bogle's powerful and moving song about a fallen soldier of the First World War. No recording of this song can ever come near to the original although many have tried - Bob Dylan, Stiff Little Fingers and The Chieftains amongst them. 

I have played and sung this for years so I thought it was time I had a bash at recording it.

The setting of the song is very clever and poignant as it describes a conversation with William McBride, a fallen soldier of the First World War as the narrator rests near his graveside. Whether the song is based on a particular Private William McBride is unknown as there were numerous casualties of that name. However, only one of them was killed in 1916 aged 19 as the song states. That particular William McBride was killed on the Somme whilst fighting with the Inniskilling Fusiliers and is buried at Authville war cemetery near Beaumont-Hamil.

The song references an ancient Scottish folk-tune 'The Flowers of the Forest' being played on the bag-pipes. This particular tune holds special reverence amongst pipers and is only ever played on solemn occasions such as funerals or memorials. It is still played in modern times by British forces when the bodies of fallen soldiers are returned home.  

Dave Holland

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