Holy Heathens and the Old Green Man
Studio album by Waterson:Carthy
Released	October 30, 2006 (2006-10-30)
Length	59:47
Label	Topic Records
Producer	Oliver Knight, Tony Engle
Waterson:Carthy chronology
The Definitive Collection (2005) Holy Heathens and the Old Green Man (2006)

Holy Heathens and the Old Green Man is a 2006 album by English folk group Waterson:Carthy, also featuring the vocal group The Devil's Interval, released on Topic Records. ^[1] It is a collection of seasonal songs, most having a Christian flavour ("Diadem" is unique in that it has phrases which suggest that the figure being adored is a Green Man rather than Christ). They have mostly avoided familiar carols, and even where the words as well-known, they have selected unfamiliar tunes. There is more instrumental accompaniment on this collection than on any previous Waterson:Carthy album, notably containing brass arrangements influenced by Martin Carthy's work in the band Brass Monkey.

Contents

• Track listing
• Personnel
• References
• External links

Track listing

1. "New Year Carol – Residue" (Traditional) (2:57)

   The meaning of the title "Residue" is unknown: the traditional song is titled "Levy-Dew", and this variant may be a mondegreen .

2. "Sugar Wassail" (Traditional, Roud 209) (2:12)

   From the collection of Rev. John Broadwood. ^{[2] [3]}

3. "St George" (John Kirkpatrick) (2:50)

   Kirkpatrick's song is similar to words in the Mummer's Play.

4. "May Song" (Traditional, Roud 305) (2:44)

   From Fred Hamer's collection, combining the "Night Song" and the "Day Song" into one.

5. "Christ Made a Trance" (Traditional, Roud 2112) (2:32)

   A grim Passiontide vision of Christ's pain.

6. "When Jesus Wept The Falling Tear" (W Billings) (2:24)

   Sung as a round. Originally written by William Billings (1746 - 1800, Boston), commonly regarded as the first American choral composer.

7. "Cherry Tree Carol" (Traditional, Roud 453, Child 54) (4:20)

   A song for Epiphany.

8. "Reaphook and Sickle" (Traditional, Roud 1375) (2:48)

   A song for the end of harvest.

9. "Jack Frost" (Mike Waterson) (4:33)

   A description of a frosty scene

10. "While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks" (Words: Nahum Tate / Tune: Traditional, Roud 936) (5:17)

    Sung to one of the many traditional tunes found in Yorkshire - this version was collected from the singing of Walter Pardon. ^[4]

11. "On Christmas Day It Happened So" (Traditional, Roud 1078) (2:43)

    From Hamer's "Garners Gay". A ploughman is punished for ploughing on Christmas Day.

12. "Time to Remember the Poor" (Words: John Fielding / Tune: H. T. Dyring, ^[5] Roud 1121) (4:40)

    A poetic plea for charity.

13. "Jacobstowe Wassail" (Traditional, Roud 209) (2:50)

    A Wassail song from the Devon village of Jacobstowe, from the Baring-Gould collection.

14. "Awake Awake (New Years Carol)" (Traditional, Roud 701) (4:06)

    Not the same song as the one by Steeleye Span.

15. "Diadem" (Traditional, Roud 17726) (3:28)

    A song from Yorkshire where Christ is portrayed as a king.

16. "Jolly Old Hawk" (Traditional, Roud 1048) (2:51)

    A Somerset carol from The Twelve Days of Christmas family of songs.

17. "Gloryland (Baptist hymn)" (Words: Traditional, Tune: Eliza Carthy) (3:40)

    A flowing, soaring description of heaven.

Personnel

Waterson:Carthy:

• Norma Waterson – vocals, triangle
• Eliza Carthy – vocals, fiddle, mandolin
• Martin Carthy – vocals, guitar
• Tim Van Eyken – vocals, melodeons, brass arrangements

The Devil's Interval:

• Jim Causley – vocals
• Emily Portman – vocals
• Lauren McCormick – vocals

Also with:

• Martin Brinsford – percussion
• Alice Kinloch – trombone and tuba, brass arrangements
• Tom Allan – trumpets, brass arrangements
• Oliver Knight – cello

References

External links

• Holy Heathens and the Old Green Man at AllMusic . Retrieved 01:52, 19 December 2020 (UTC).