Avocet CD -- "Where The Scented Clover Grows"

The Echo Mocks the Corn Crake (trad. Scottish)

This traditional Scottish song about young love and the joys of starting a family in the countryside was learned from an Andy M. Stewart album. The setting is southern Scotland. Where the "bairnie rows" refers to where the baby cries. Mitch sings.

O'Carolan's Draught (Turloch O'Carolan, Irish)

Turloch O'Carolan was a blind traveling harper in late 1600's Ireland who wrote many harp tunes much beloved by traditional musicians today. This is one of his, which we render on octave mandolin, hammered dulcimer, harp and guitar.

Bedlam Boys (trad. English)

Roz sings this strange but fascinating old English song, which dates back to the early 1600's and fantasizes about an unrequited romance between two insane people. The words "bedlam" and "maudlin" are probably short for Bethlehem and Mary Magdalene, the names of two early English mental hospitals.

The Wind That Shakes the Barley/The Lark in the Morning (trad. Irish)

This is a set of two Irish fiddle tunes, both popular at Irish sessions. We've given Wind That Shakes a slow, introspective tone that you may not hear at your pub.

La Sansonnette/Bourrée de George Sand (trad. French)

A pair of French folk dance tunes, set for hurdy-gurdy, accordion and mando, that Mitch and Roz bring from the central France repertoire that they have come to love. The first is a scottish (schottishe), the second a 2/4 time bourrée. Author George Sand lived in Berry in the 1800's and was a champion of, among many other things, the rural music of the Berry region.

Twa Corbies (trad. Scottish)

Merilee sings this Scottish version of a gory medieval tale of human betrayal -- the knight appears to have been killed by the rival for his lady's affections -- and of scavenger lunch options. She learned it from a John Fleagle recording of medieval songs. "Twa Corbies" means two crows, "macking mane" is complaining or conversing, to "ken" is to know, and the rest we'll spare you.

Valse Pour Joseph/Patrick Bouffard's/L'Accordeon (Marc Perrone/Patrick Bouffard/Serge Gainsbourg)

Three waltzes that Mitch selected from the French button accordion repertoire, played as duets with Mitch on button box and Jerry on mando (the snippet of novice hurdy-gurdy is also Mitch). Marc Perrone is a noted French box player, Patrick Bouffard is a genius of the gurdy, and Serge Gainsbourg wrote L'Accordeon as a song about an unhappy street musician.

Sailor Maid (trad. English)

Sailor Maid, aka "The Handsome Young Sailor" comes from the ever-popular genre of Celtic cross-dressing ballads. In this one, the heroine joins the Navy in men's clothes for adventure rather than to seek out a missing sweetheart, and, as usual, no one notices for the longest time. Merilee sings.

Rose Waltz/Valse Gitane (trad. French/Eric Montbel)

Two more French trad tunes, both waltzes, featuring the hurdy-gurdy. "Gitane" means gypsy. Rose Waltz is from Gascony, in southwest France.

La Valse Pour Les Petites Jeunes Filles/Johsefin's Waltz (trad. French/Roger Tallroth)

A pair of lovely waltzes. Valse Pour Les Jeunes Filles is traditional French (originally a mazurka), and was introduced in the US by fiddler Raymond Honay from southern Belgium, who taught it to Grey Larsen and Malcolm Daglish (they recorded it on their 1982 "Thunderhead" album). Johsefin’s was written by Roger Tallroth of the Swedish trad band Vasen for his niece Johsefin's baptism (later recorded by Dervish, who made it very popular among US Celtic players).

The Newry Highwayman (trad. Irish)

Jerry discovered and molded a beautiful guitar and vocal arrangement of this poignant story about a young man who turns to a life of crime. Many of the people and place names are historic.

Blarney Pilgrim/Banish Misfortune/Cliffs of Moher (trad. Irish)

Three popular fiddle tunes from the Irish session repertoire, arranged for hammered dulcimer, fiddle, guitar and bodhran.

Bourrée de Concours/Les Hautes Sur le Montagne (Serge Durin/trad. French)

Two more central France 2/4-time bourrées featuring Roz on the hurdy-gurdy. Serge Durin is a French piper and bagpipe builder. We nickname the second tune, which is traditional, the "musical chairs bourrée" because of the silly treatment we give it (which we originally picked up from our French trad music camp buddies).

Work of the Weavers (Donald Shaw, ca. 1850)

The words were written by a Scottish weaver named Donald Shaw and published in one of his two collections of poems in the mid 19th century. This song has everything -- pride of the work of one's hands, companionship over a glass of ale, a rousing chorus. Sung by Merilee.