A Living Tradition

Holy Heathens And The Old Green Man looks like it will be the final Waterson:Carthy album with Tim Van Eyken as a permanent member of the band alongside the family members of Norma Waterson, Martin and Eliza Carthy. It is another cleverly programmed album with the traditional material featured based around the theme of old English carols. These are carols in the original sense of the term, songs commemorating various strategic points in the year and a much older and more mysterious tradition than the standard Christmas service of 12 lessons and carols. Many of those featured do have a Christmas theme but just as important are New Year and winter solstice carols, together with a nod to harvest time and St George. The wassailing tradition is also very much to the fore and there is a real sense of community to the songs. This is very much a vocally oriented album, with the sheer pleasure and gusto in the singing shining through. The four band members are augmented by the young vocal group The Devil's Interval and alongside the violin of Eliza and Tim Van Eyken's melodeon the small guest brass section also adds telling touches of authenticity. This is a living tradition, the version of While Shepherds Watched is one that can still be heard in pubs in Sheffield each December. It was also good to hear Martin Carthy giving a traditional reading of the Cherry Tree carol used by Vaughan Williams in his Nativity Play, The First Nowell. Recorded around the same time as the solo album from Tim Van Eyken I talked about a few posts back, it makes a fine companion piece.