'A Birthday' composed by Helen Caddick with words by Christina Rossetti - Part I of Caddick's song cycle 'With Beauty May I Walk' 
Live session recording

A Birthday

'Spinning Song' composed by Helen Caddick, words by Edith Sitwell - Part II of Caddick's song cycle 'With Beauty May I Walk'
Live session recording

Spinning Song

'With Beauty May I Walk' composed by Helen Caddick, words by anon. possibly taken from a navajo prayer - Part III of Caddick's song cycle 'With Beauty May I Walk'
Live session recording

With Beauty May I Walk

Lilias tells the story of a woman accused of witchcraft, tortured, shaved, stripped and sleep deprived, she died before she could be burned to death. As consequence, she could not be buried on consecrated ground and thus was buried at the shoreline of Torryburn bay under a slab of stone to prevent her from returning to torment the living. Her body was later uncovered and pieces of her skeleton were sold as souvenirs or displayed in exhibitions. The whereabouts of her skull is still unknown. 

My semi-improvised work explores Lilias’ soul in a state of eternal unrest. Her story, with phrases taken from her confession and the names of other women accused of witchcraft, is fragmented to signify her forever displaced body and emulate the hysteria and purgatory caused by her sleep deprivation. 

'Lilias' was performed at The George Tavern as part of Scarlett Woolfe's event 'A Woman Becomes a Wolf when she learns how to Scream' 16/02/2025

A Birthday

Ruby Caddick Lawrence

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