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Traditional English Folk Songs

A Collection Of Traditional British Folk Songs Full English - A Collection Of Traditional British Folk Songs features the amazing talents of Mat Williams who did most of the vocals and also played most of the traditional instruments involved in the recordings, such as Guitar, Violin, Viola, Mandolin, Banjo, Banman, Upright Bass, Piano and many more. Mat invited some fellow folk musicians to share him for this album and add more traditional instruments, such as the Irish Whistle, Uilleann Pipes and Bodhran. Enjoy the music and read along as you listen!



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The Oak And The Ash


Sound Sample:
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A North Country maid up to London had strayed,
Although with her nature it did not agree.
She wept and she sighed and she bitterly cried,
“I wish once again in the North I could be.
Oh the oak and the ash and the bonny ivy tree,
They flourish at home in my own country.”

“While sadly I roam I regret my dear home,
Where lads and young lasses are making the hay,
The merry bells ring and the birds sweetly sing,
And maidens and meadows are pleasant and gay.
Oh the oak and the ash and the bonny ivy tree,
They flourish at home in my own country.”

“No doubt, did I please, I could marry with ease,
Where maidens are fair many lovers will come.
But he whom I wed must be North Country bred,
And carry me back to my North Country home.
Oh the oak and the ash and the bonny ivy tree,
They flourish at home in my own country.



Words & Music: Traditional,
arranged & performed by Mat Williams














Of parks they may talk, where ’tis fashion to walk,
I’ll own the gay throng is a wonderful sight.
But nought have I seen like the Westmoreland green
Where all of us danced from the morning till night.
Oh the oak and the ash and the bonny ivy tree,
They flourish at home in my own country.”

Oh the oak and the ash and the bonny ivy tree,
They flourish at home in my own country.
Flourish at home in my own country.”



Origin and meaning of The Oak And The Ash

This song is pure homesick lament. Unusually, it doesn’t blame. The singer never claims that London is a bad influence or dangerous - just that it is not home. She cannot feel rooted there. The general mood is “it’s all right for some people but it doesn’t do for me.”

Most laments for home concern a specific person - “The Girl I left Behind Me” for instance, or a warning list of the dreadful things that can happen to an innocent country girl caught in the wicked snares of the “big city.” This lament is for place as much as people.

The use of the word “country” is interesting. It has come to mean nationality and official boundaries but not so long ago it was less hard-edged. It wasn’t even as specific as “county” or “parish”. It meant “the place where I have my home and family and where I am known and where I belong.” Here “country” is used in both senses. At first “A north country maid” it is general: north as opposed to south. The north country was then regarded by southerners as a rather alarming place of sparsely populated hillsides and a complete lack of sophistication - no change there, then. The feel of the word in the chorus is different, not vague at all, but very specific - “my own country”.

I assume she has gone into service which was the usual reason for young girls leaving home, but it seems to have happened by accident. “A north country maid up to London had strayed” being a useful rhyme for “maid” as part of the overall rhyme-scheme, but it carries echoes of “strayed lamb” which underlines the youth and sadness of the singer.

The tune, which is an old one from the early 17th century, is gently melancholy and perfect as a carrier of the words. The chorus in particular is heartbreaking. The trees have their own meaning - the oak and the ash are ancient native trees and the ivy grows by clinging to them. The word “bonny” is northern and whilst it means fine and attractive, it also implies health and growth which the word “pretty” for example does not. The first letter of “bonny” is placed on a strong rhythmic beat within the musical phrase, leading down to another strong beat on “flourish” harking back to the verbal overtones of “bonny.” The oak and the ash and the bonny ivy tree not only remind her of home because they exist there but because they “flourish” as if they grow better there than anywhere else: just as she does.

Commentary written by Gillian Goodman,
© ClassicRocks, Mat Williams 2012

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