A slow air called...Amhran Na Leabhair. Don't ask me to pronounce it but the alternate name is, Song of the Books and or Valencia Harbor. Its a song about an 18th century professor who is sent to a new school. He loads all his worldly possessions on a ship including his beloved books while he travels by land. The ship sinks and all his books are lost. He morns the loss of his books. Its a popular song on the whistle and is sung in a style the name of which I forget. That is sung almost in one continious way without breaks or pauses a very mornful sound.. Bob.

Autumn Leaves (you know....the ones that drift by your window....)

October is a Gypsy Lass (if anyone else other than my family knows this, I'd love to hear from them)

Picardy, a French Carol in a minor key ("Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence" in the 1906 English Hymnal)

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Jan Potts, Lexington, KY
Site Moderator

"Use what talents you possess; the woods would be very silent if no birds sang there except those that sang best." Henry Van Dyke

Thanks! I'll keep an eye out for it!

folkfan said:

I sure am enjoying this thread. Hope it has a long and productive life, and many thanks to all who have posted so far.

Dancing At Whitsun is a favorite of mine. Had a chance a few years ago to see the Hedge Row Crown in the Tower display of the English Crown Jewels. This year it wasn't there. When I asked a Gentleman Warder what happened to it, he was surprised that I even knew what a Hedge Row was and why they were important enough to be the base for a crown designed for the Queen.

Tim Hart's rendition of the song is just beautiful.

john p said:

Sad - Well, folowing Paul's suggestion above, the tune of 'The Week Before Easter' was used for a song called 'Dancing at Whitsun' and tells of the ladies left without their husbands and sweethearts who never returned from the Great War.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9bH1XsWHgY

Spooky - Well Childe #6 is very 'Wierd', usually known as 'Willie's Lady', 'The Nine Witch Knots' or 'The Loaf of Wax'. This has it all, the cruelty of the Step Mother, the torment of the Bride, the resolutness of the Husband, the resourcefullness of the Faithfull Retainer ...

The Nine Witch Knots refers to the binding of one of the most terrible curses that could be laid on any woman.

Oddly, the tune usually used for this ballad(due to Ray Fisher) is a somewhat raucous and slightly maudlin cider drinking song from Brittainy.

john p

Beth, I just got another version of The Rolling of the Stones, the lyrics are a bit different than those I know but the tune is the same. In this version the pretty Susie doesn't charm the young man from his grave, because after receiving his fatal wound, no one buries him. They just take him to the woods and lay him on the ground. YUCK.

It's sung by Oscar Brand on the album recorded by Jean Ritchie, Oscar Brand and David Sear, title "A Folk Concert In Town Hall, New York". I got it from iTunes.

folkfan said:

I'm working on a tab for it, but my tabs are simple melody lines with the lyrics with no chords. At the moment I'm working from two slightly different SMN melodies and trying to get them to fit the music I have playing from a third source. Usually after going through the process of adding and subtracting notes I end up with a final tab. When I get there, I'll put it up.

Beth Hansen-Buth said:

I love unusual ballads! Would you happen to have TAB or lyrics with chords that you'd care to share for this one? I'm intrigued...

folkfan said:

Every song I play is mournful and spooky, at least according to my wife. :-)

Pretty Polly -- Dock Boggs .

Wife of Usher's Well, either by Hedy West or M&E Carthy . Two different songs, really.

The Rolling of the Stones. An unusual ballad in that it actual deals with magic and spelling.

"The Week Before Easter" which I picked up from the first Robin and Barry Dransfield album, The Rout of the Blues, which I got in 1971. I started working on it when I got my dulcimer in 1974. It's about unrequited love - what else? The last Verse goes (here's the beginning and ending), "Go dig me my grave ... and that's the best way to forget her."

Dacre's Gone to the War - originally the 1820 lyrics called The Laird of Gilsland - tune by Maddy Prior

Peace on the Border by Rick Kemp

Both are on the album Fyre & Sworde - songs of the Border Reivers by Fellside Recordings and friends...

It's October. The days are growing shorter, leaves are falling, pumpkin's on the vine, and the chilly winds are kickin' up, so....

Of all the sad, lonesome, spooky, mournful, ominous, plaintive, or mysterious songs and tunes that get played on dulcimers....which is your favorite one, and why?

(Limiting answers to between 1-3 songs at most will keep it more interesting- I'm not really looking for people to post long lists of all the ones they like- just tell us your real favorites!)

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Those irritated by grain of sand best avoid beach.
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updated by @strumelia: 07/31/23 09:25:40PM