Re: June Tabor on Mike Harding R2

David Kilpatrick wrote:
> 
> ...[June] freely Southernised
> northern English or Scots words, even to the extent of losing principal
> rhymes. I can well understand changing the Scots 'toom' to the English
> 'empty' in Bonny James (sic) Campbell - no-one understands 'toom' now -
> but I would think most folk can understand 'dee' for 'die', even
> Americans :-)

There is a difference between being able to understand the words and
enjoying the song.  An English person rarely sounds convincing when
singing Scots - I liken it to listening to Placido Domingo singing in 
English.  A Scot certainly sounds convincing but probably less
comprehensible to the English ear, which also affects enjoyment.

> June also mentioned Bronson tunes, but again, the tunes
> used were much changed especially in range and modality, minor-ising
> originally major or pentatonic stuff and removing the 'drop tonic'
> temporary key shifts in two of the songs which really make them what
> they are. Interesting, very clearly sung, but oddly flattened down.

For me, June has made these songs more accessible, if less authentic.  
Having come to love the "English" version of both the lyrics and tune,
I am more prepared to seek out older renderings.

Where would folk music be without modernised variations to provide
stepping stones to the past?  Relegated to little more than an academic 
pursuit, I dare say.

> The three songs were Hughie Graham (Hugh the Graeme), The Duke of
> Atholl's Nurse, and Bonny James Campbell - all of which are in Ewan
> MacColl's 1966 'Songs and Ballads of Scotland', though Ewan kept to the
> normal Scots title of George Campbell. No mention at all of MacColl
> although he was really most reponsible for the revival of these songs;
> guess he is not very fashionable at the moment.

All credit to MacColl but I doubt that he was left unacknowledged 
because of fashion.  Radio 2 is hardly the right forum for a full 
history of a song's pedigree.  Much better to nod in the direction of 
its forefathers and leave the detailed discussion to Radio 3 or 4, or 
to a degree course in musicology.  Anyway, MacColl probably altered 
the songs to cater for his own 20th century audience.
-- 
Nick Wagg