"The King" was a wren hunted on St Stephen's Day (various other days across Europe), put on a pole and paraded around by boys looking for money or other gifts. I like this song for its harmony, done in the usual Steeleye Span spirit of group revelry. The lovely Peter, Paul, and Mary song "A-Soalin" mixes in a couple of other traditional tunes and gets the history wrong, but describes a similar, equally pagan custom.
Tuesday, July 28, 2020
Please To See The King
"The King" was a wren hunted on St Stephen's Day (various other days across Europe), put on a pole and paraded around by boys looking for money or other gifts. I like this song for its harmony, done in the usual Steeleye Span spirit of group revelry. The lovely Peter, Paul, and Mary song "A-Soalin" mixes in a couple of other traditional tunes and gets the history wrong, but describes a similar, equally pagan custom.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
The link to Wikipedia is munged up. The Wikipedia entry includes the story of the "who flies the highest contest" with its 2-stage flying winner. The story always reminds me of rocketry...
Also The Clancy Brothers & Tommy Mackem: The Wren Song.
Post a Comment