6th September 2025: Two in the can, four to go
Rob and I have been having great fun over the late summer drafting and recording a series of podcasts about our music. Doing this has brought back a host of great memories from our travels. We have now devised a format for each episode. We begin with a generic opening piece common to all episodes. We then play a verse or two of the subject song as a 'teaser'. This is followed by a 15-to-20-minute chat covering the background to the song; how and why we arranged it the way we did, what instruments and in what tunings we are playing them on the track, etc. Each episode will conclude with the song being played the whole way through.
We have now recorded and composed two podcast episodes. These relate to our songs Nellie Torrence and Jeannie Waldie and Nancy from London; one self-composed, one traditional. Further, we have now identified all the headings and broad scripting notes for us to “riff” around for three more songs, Only for Three Months, Sisters & Brothers and Companions de la Marjolene, plus the same for a very different podcast on how we go about arranging our instrumental tracks.
Given other time commitments, our preference is to get the six podcasts recorded in advance and then release them one per week, rather than release an initial episode and feel under pressure to produce and broadcast subsequent episodes to a set timetable.
On other matters, our webmaster, Derek Wheeler, has been doing sterling work over the summer on developing a new website for Na-Mara. Indeed, we hope you are reading this blogpost on the new site and trust you like what he has done. We certainly do.
Finally, we are expecting to receive the four mastered tracks for our new EP, The Roses and the Busy Bee, to be delivered soon. Exciting times.
Blog Listing
P Stands for Paddy
This is a traditional ‘listening song’ with the narrator eavesdropping on a domestic drama. Our version is Irish in origin and taken from the music of Scottish folk supergroup, Five Hand Reel, from their album For A’ That.
The discourse between the two lovers is reminiscent of that in The Verdant Braes of Skreen, which we recorded on our 2023 EP, Clear Purling Stream.
Other alliterative variants of the song can be found around the British Isles, including B stands for Barney and T Stands for Thomas.
As I roved out upon the May morn, to take a pleasant walk
I sat down beside an old stone wall, to hear two lovers talk
To hear what they might say, my dear, to hear what they might say
So that I might know a little more about love, before (that) I might go away
[Chorus]
‘P’ stands for Paddy I suppose, and ‘J’ for my love John
‘W’ stands for false Willy oh, but Johnny is the fairest man,
Johnny is the fairest man, my dear, Johnny is the fairest man
I don’t care what anybody says, my Johnny is the fairest man!
Ah, come and sit beside me love, together on the green,
It’s a long three-quarters of the year or more, since together we have been,
Since together we have been, my dear, together we have been
It’s a long three-quarters of the year or more, since together we have been,
[Chorus]
I’ll go climb a high high tree, and rob a little bird’s nest
And I’ll bring back a pretty little flower to the girl that I love best
To the girl that I love best, my dear, the girl that I love best
Yes, I’ll bring back a pretty little flower to the girl that I love best.
[Chorus]
I’ll not sit beside you now, nor at any other time
For I have heard you love a pretty little chap and your heart’s no longer mine,
Your heart’s no longer mine, my dear, your heart’s no longer mine,
I don’t care what anybody says, your heart’s no longer mine.
[Chorus]
The Poisoned Brew (Le Serpent Vert)
This is our translation of an ancient and shocking tale from France. Our version interweaves two different versions of the song, namely, La Serpente Verte from Eric Montbel’s album Le Jardin des Mystères and Le Breuvage Empoisonné from Jean-François Dutertre’s Ballades Françaises, vol. 2. Both these versions root back to Achille Millien’s song collections from the Nivernais in France.
Here, a wife is browbeaten into a relationship and an attempted murder by a powerful figure. Her husband, the intended victim, is saved only by the miraculous intervention of his infant son. Tragedy ensues.
Oh aimez-moi, plaisante brûne
Oh aimez-moi, Oh aimez-moi
Vous aimerez le fils d’un prince
Le fils d’un roi, le fils d’un roi
“Come lie with me, my noble lady
Come lay you down, come lay you down
And win the love of a fine prince
Son of a king, heir to his crown”
“But, gracious lord, how may we ever?
(For) married am I, married am I
And my good lord, he works in the vineyard,
And would us espy, would us espy ”
“Then to the wood, my noble lady
We shall repair, we shall repair
There slice the head from a green viper
We shall ensnare, we shall ensnare”
“Then, in a mortar we will grind it
In muslin we’ll tie, muslin we’ll tie
(And) into a flask of red wine we’ll place it
Where it may brew and where it may lie”
“And, when your lord, his labours are over
His throat will be dry, throat will be dry
He’ll call for his wine, he’ll call for his brandy
And poisoned will die, poisoned will die”
And, so, this lord did call to his lady
“Bring me red wine, bring me red wine
For my dry lips I surely would wetten
Ere that I dine, ere that I dine”
But up spoke a babe who’d ne’er before spoken,
Loud he did call, loud he did cry,
“Drink not the wine, my loving father
Else you will die, else you will die!”
“Come tell me true, my noble lady,
This is not so, this is not so,
Here, take my glass, drink me a health,
That I may know, that I may know”
And as through her lips, the poison passed,
First, she did trip, then she did fall
And as her heart did flutter and falter
Soft she did call, soft she did call
“Oh cursed be thou wilful princeling,
(That) I could not deny, could not deny
For love of you, I brewed this poison,
(And) now I must die, now I must die”
Father, Oh Father
Father, oh Father, just look what you’ve done
You’ve ruined the life of another man’s son
So, where is the justice for what you’ve done wrong?
When they hide you away and they move you along?
Hide you away and they move you along?
Betraying good people that held you in trust
Defiling their children to sate your own lust
Taking confessions, sins petty and small,
And you the very worst sinner of all
And you the very worst sinner of all
They sent you to lie on the therapist’s bed
To “Draw forth the demons that lurk in your head”
They called it addiction, I call it a crime
Without cassock or cottar, you’d surely do time.
Without cassock or cottar, you’d surely do time.
Sent to a parish an ocean away
“Turn a new page”, “start a new day”
A different city, a far distant shore
(And gifted a licence to do it once more
Gifted a licence to do it once more
And those bishops who knew of your evil and shame
Solely concerned to save their own name,
By placing themselves before what was right
Enabled the monster to hide in plain sight
Enabled the monster to hide in plain sight
Father, oh Father, just look what you’ve done
You’ve ruined the life of another man’s son
So, where is the justice for what you’ve done wrong?
When they hide you away and they move you along?
Hide you away and they move you along?
The Bonny Gardener Boy (Le Garçon Jardinier)
This is our translation of a traditional French song about a young girl tricked by a handsome young gardener. Metaphors abound and many liberties have been taken in the translation.
This version is taken from the music of French folk-rock supergroup, Malicorne, led by the late and greatly missed Gabriel Yacoub. It is our favourite Malicorne song and one we had the pleasure of seeing Gabriel perform when he invited us to play at his village festival in Marçais in 2012.
The song was originally taken from Émile Barbillat & Laurian Touraine’s (1930) "Chansons populaires dans le bas-Berry" .
où allez-vous, la belle, avant soleil levé ?
où allez-vous, la belle avant soleil levé ?
je m'en vais à la messe (l'avez-vous)
entendue sonner, beau garçon jardinier?
Where do you roam, my dearie, ere the sun is in the sky?
Where do you roam, my dearie, ere the sun is in the sky?
Do you not hear the bells that ring so clear?
It’s to mass I’m going now my bonny gardener boy
Then pray hold a while, my dearie, for I would stroll along with thee
Pray hold a while, my dearie, for I would stroll along with thee
And, he’s ta’en her by the milk white hand
Into the garden midst the roses and the busy bee
Come pick a rose, my dearie, and that bloom I’ll give to thee
Come pick a rose, my dearie, and that bloom I’ll give to thee
So, she has stooped to pick the pinkest flower
And fell a-weeping midst the roses and the busy bee
Why do you weep, my dearie, come dry those tears that run so free?
Why do you weep, my dearie, come dry those tears that run so free?
I’m grieving for the loss of a tender heart
That’s been stolen midst the roses and the busy bee
Then, come mourn no more, my dearie, for I’ll I return your heart to thee
Then, come mourn no more, my dearie, for I’ll return your heart to thee
My heart is not a loan, passed to and fro,
Like some petty purse of silver, bonny gardener boy
The Peril Is Near
In Sweden, they hide behind pretty blue flowers
In Hungary, a white cross that sits upon green
In Germany, Denmark, it’s sweeping red arrows
Italy’s five shining stars are their screen
Chorus
Yet, on they march - increasing in number
Bells ring out for the danger is clear
Good folks rise - awake from your slumbers
Time is short……and the peril is near
In Greece they believe that their dawn should be golden,
In Poland, an arm and a sword they think true,
In France it’s a torch to which they’re beholden,
In Holland, a bird coloured red, white and blue,
Chorus
Bristol, they sport the Wolfangel and Odal,
In Luton, the circle and flash are on show,
Hooligans mixing their dogma with football,
Dripping their poison wherever they go
Chorus
For evil will triumph when the good they stand idle,
As dangerous fools seek to harness this hate,
Prepare the defences, ere this wave proves tidal,
Fight for what’s right, before it’s too late.
Chorus




