I've been singing this song for many years - I'm not sure how many. When my child was a baby, it was one of the songs he reliably responded to, and I have sung him to sleep with it. The other one he especially liked was Byker Hill - which is a loud, stompy sort of song.
When we got The Ominous Folk going, this one went in the first show, and the humorous potential of singing it with James, was irresistible. It's an odd choice of song to play for laughs, but there we go.
I believe this is a Welsh version of the song - there are a lot of Cruel Mother variants out there. I got this tune from Vicki Williams, and I'm not at all sure where she got it from.
James and I recorded it because we're going to be singing it with the big band at the next gig in Gloucester - an Ominous Folk of six people rather than what had been the usual four. We needed to make sure the extra Folk have the right version. It's fun having the bigger sound, and we're delighted to have Keith Errington and Jessica Law performing with us for the next event. I suspect we're going to be a big band for Raising Steam at the end of July as well.
James and I have sung together from very early in his life. He's always been a confident performer, and at this point he has a considerable vocal range and performance skills. It was very hot when we took the video, so it's a slightly undead take on the whole song, but that's not wholly inappropriate.
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