For the first Song Lyric Sunday of the New Year, as he tells us in his post Been Done Before Jim is revisiting a variant of a previous theme ,by inviting us to play a song that has a girl’s or a boy’s name in the title, at the suggestion of Ange of the Let’s Write……. blog. This was previously the theme back in October 2024, when I played a song by the excellent Bellowhead, so I thought I’d return to English folk music this time too. After all, it must be at least four weeks since I last played any of the genre! I’m going with two tracks, one each by the behemoths of the English folk rock scene – in my usual state of indecision I’ve never preferred one over the other!
This is where I’m starting, with a song which has long been a favourite of mine ever since it was first released back in 1974. This is a later performance, though:
In case you aren’t familiar with this, the song is Thomas The Rhymer, a traditional English folk song dating back to the fifteenth century. As with all such songs many variants of the lyrics exist, and these are the ones Steeleye Span used for their recording (though they go for a fuller version in live shows):
Wikipedia has a very detailed article about the history of Thomas. This is an extract:
“Sir Thomas de Ercildoun, better remembered as Thomas the Rhymer (fl. c. 1220 – 1298), also known as Thomas Learmont or True Thomas, was a Scottish laird and reputed prophet from Earlston (then called “Erceldoune”) in the Borders. Thomas’ gift of prophecy is linked to his poetic ability. He is often cited as the author of the English Sir Tristrem, a version of the Tristram legend, and some lines in Robert Mannyng’s Chronicle may be the source of this association. It is not clear if the name Rhymer was his actual surname or merely a sobriquet. In literature, he appears as the protagonist in the tale about Thomas the Rhymer carried off by the “Queen of Elfland” and returned having gained the gift of prophecy, as well as the inability to tell a lie. The tale survives in a medieval verse romance in five manuscripts, as well as in the popular ballad Thomas Rhymer. The romance occurs as “Thomas off Ersseldoune” in the Lincoln Thornton Manuscript.”
As I said, the article is long, but if you want to read the full story you can find it here. Steeleye Span included their version on Now We Are Six, their sixth album, which was released in March 1974. The title refers to the album’s place in their catalogue, but also to the fact that the band now had six members, having added Nigel Pegrum, their first full time drummer. And in case you are wondering, that line from the chorus – ‘harp and carp’ – with I have used for my title is an archaic expression representing the choice offered to Thomas by the Queen of Elfland when she abducts him: she asks if he wants the gift of “harp or carp,” meaning he could choose to become a master musician or a prophet/storyteller (gifted with speech). And no, I didn’t know either, even after all these years of singing along with it!
Two versions of Thomas the Rhymer were recorded. The song, also known as True Thomas. was released as a single running at 3′ 14″, and as a longer LP version running at 6’44”. This version, which alternates loud and soft sections, was the one released on that 1974 UK LP. When the album was issued in the United States, however, it included the short version, apparently on the assumption that the shorter version would be more radio-friendly and more appealing to American audiences. Never let it be said that Americans have a shorter attention span! On first release, the album peaked at #13 in the UK – having bought all of their previous records I was in the shop the day this one came out, and it was a huge part of the musical soundtrack to my uni days.
As you can see, this live performance is from a DVD released in 2014 and the band were still playing the full version in concerts. I have seen them several times and, apart from the first two occasions (before this album was released) it has been a focal point of the show: absolutely majestic.
The other of the big folk rock bands here is Fairport Convention. I love both bands and have seen both in concert many times, and it seems only right that I should also play one of theirs for this theme. There are several candidates, but I’m going with this little beauty:
