The Bitter Withy

from The Bitter by Cerys Hafana

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about

Traditional folk-carol from Gloucestershire; Roud #452

lyrics

As it fell out on a high holiday / Some drops of rain did fall,
Our Saviour asked his mother dear / If he might play at ball.
“Go play at the ball, my own dear son / ‘Tis time that you were gone.
But don’t let me hear of any complaints / At night when you come home.”

So up Lincorn and down Lincorn / Our Saviour he did run
Until he came to the well of fortune / Where he met three jolly lordlings.
“Well met, well met, three jolly lordlings / Your bodies are all safe I see.
And which of you three jolly lordlings / Will come play at ball with me?”

“Come play at the ball? We’re lords’ and ladies’ sons / Born in a bower and all.
And you are only a poor maiden’s child / Born in an oxen’s stall.”
“If you are lords’ and ladies’ sons / Born in a bower and all,
I’ll make it appear at the very latter end / That I am above you all.”

So our Saviour made a bridge of the beams of the sun / And over the sea went he,
And these three jolly lordlings followed / And they were drowned all three.
So up Lincorn and down Lincorn / Their mothers they did call,
Saying “Mary mild, call home your child / For ours are drowned all.”

So Mary mild called home her child / And laid him across her knee,
And with a handful of bitter withy / She gave him slashes three.
“Oh! the withy, the bitter withy / Thou caused me to smart.
Oh the withy shall be the very first tree / That shall perish and die at the heart.”

credits

from The Bitter, released January 24, 2024
vocals, willow sticks, triple harp, cello, toy piano – Cerys Hafana

recorded + produced - Cerys Hafana
mixed + mastered - Mike West (www.9thwardpickingparlor.com)

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Cerys Hafana Machynlleth, UK

Cerys Hafana is a composer and multi-instrumentalist who mangles, mutates, and transforms traditional music. She explores the creative possibilities and unique qualities of the triple harp, and is also interested in found sounds, archive materials and electronic processing. ... more

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