I wrote this song for summer Solstice event at the Salisbury Centre in Edinburgh in 2019. About 50 of us sang it round the fire on a beautiful summer evening in the garden. It works well to start with tune A (I got a pocketful o’ solstice magic) to establish a strong beat. Try bringing […]
Donkey field Community Orchard Canon 2011
The idea of setting Tallis Canon to names of apples grown in an orchard came from my friend Camilla Cancantata – a great community musician and prolific song writer living in Knighton. Apples have beautiful and evocative names and I enjoyed playing about with the varieties grown at The Donkeyfield Community Orchard in Portobello, Edinburgh, […]
Stand Fast Root 2020
Words: 19th century Sussex Music: Jane Lewis Stand fast root, Bear well top, Pray the God send us a howling good crop, Ev’ry twig apples big, Ev’ry bough, apples now This song works as a 5 part round – or you can sing it in fewer parts if you like! Tune: As a 5 part […]
Wassail Round the Branches Bare 2017
Root and shoot and bud and berry Apple, pear and plum and cherry, Friends and neighbours let’s be merry Wassail round the branches bare, Oh wassail round the branches bare, Oh wassail round the branches Robin Redbreast fluffed and free, Perching on the feasting tree, May there be fruit for you and me Wassail etc […]
May there be Fruitfulness 2019
To your health, dear tree, To the depth of your root, To your health, dear tree, To the tip of your shoot, To your health dear friend, As I take your hand, May peace grow in these troubled days May we learn more loving ways May there be fruitfulness – wassail! All parts: Low: Drone: […]
New Year’s Day Swim
The mother’s toothless stare frozen into her final pillow The panic that pedalled November into winter The bright-eyed sunflowers that wilted into spiralled seed The skittish words that bit my tongue The song that found the strength of rock Each wave washed pieces of old year from my skin The muddles, the messes, the charity […]
Ice swim
The body drinks the cold like cider on a summer’s day with tingling teenage delight at forbidden late-night antics. Giggling on frosted air we are addicts, high on frozen echoes, legs and arms bare, spinning spells, as we skim slices of ice across the arctic loch over and over and the raw tinkling rings through […]
Veggie Burger and Chips
A chip for the farmer who carried the gear, A chip for the hug that held my fear, A chip for the legs that jogged for help, A chip for Sue’s strident, stoical self, A chip for the Gairloch paramedics who answered my call, A chip for the bag that broke her fall, A chip […]
The Radish Concept
For Callum I chopped icicle radishes fresh from the garden, thick as my thumb And put them in a dish for lunch. “No thanks” you said, “Too hot?” I asked. “No,” you said, “I don’t like the concept -Too crunchy.” And you cracked a carrot between your teeth. “Crunchier than carrots?” I asked. “They are […]
The Green Lochan
Lochan uaine, Rothiemurchus, Cairngorm, Ben Macdui We swam in the green lochan, Flanked with Granny pines and skirted birch, The water a magical milky green Lochan uaine, Rothiemurchus, Cairngorm, Ben Macdui Did you know the water is coloured Because there the fairies wash their clothes? Did you know they all wore green? Lochan uaine, Rothiemurchus, […]