“Jamie Raeburn was the first Celtic ballad I ever learned. It’s a story of the loss of home and family, and I think, now more than ever, that resonates deeply with audiences. James Keelaghan’s Kiri’s Piano is much the same.
“I greatly enjoy the traditional songs – Tae The Beggin’, Barnyards of Delgaty – but I’d have to say Jolly Beggarman is my favorite. Frank Blair’s bazouki work takes that bouncy, happy tune and makes it so much more fun. That I convinced my wife to sing harmony on it was a small miracle, though she’s a classically trained singer herself – it’s one of those ensemble pieces that I can listen to all day.”
There are two original songs on this CD, White Hills of Home and Prairie Departure, two songs that are seeing commercial release for the first time.
“White Hills of Home and Prairie Departure are both – more or less – autobiographical. Both deal with the idea of ‘home’: a home lost, a home remembered.”
The Music
Tae the Beggin’.
Traditional. William Morris, vocals/guitar/bass.
The story goes that in 16th century Scotland, begging was much more lucrative than holding a job (not dis-similar to the U.S. Congress today). So many people were flocking to the practice that the government of the time decreed that beggars would be licensed and taxed. This licensing included a cloak, a special pair of shoes, and a begging bowl (the first three verses).
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Wild Mountain Thyme
Traditional. William Morris, vocals/guitar/bass/piano.
The lyrics to this song are derived from a song called The Braes Of Belquether, written about 1760 by Scottish poet Robert Tannahill, and I include one of the poem’s verses in this recording. As a ten year veteran of the Kansas City Renaissance Festival, I grew to hate this song. Hearing James Taylor’s arrangement, though, converted me back.
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Jamie Raeburn
Traditional. William Morris, vocals/guitar
From about 1840, Jamie Raeburn is a Scottish ballad that I learned from Frank Blair. I’ve heard two stories as to who J.R. was and the nature of his crime. One, that he was a baker living in Glasgow around 1820 who was wrongly convicted of petty theft. The other was that he was on his way home after curfew and when stopped by the local constabulary couldn’t alibi himself : he had been in a clandestine tryst with his best friend’s wife. Whichever it was, he was sentenced to transportation to Australia.
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Maid on the Shore
Newfoundland traditional. William Morris, vocals/guitar
Stan Rogers asserted that this song was from Newfoundland, though the theme and general subject matter turn up in songs from many countries: a young woman is taken by a man who means to “deflower” her and escapes by trickery. Wherever it’s from, the song is very fun to perform.
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Jolly Beggarman
Traditional. William Morris, vocals/guitar/bass. Michelle Morris, vocals. Frank Blair, bazouki.
It is known that James V of Scotland would travel through his country in beggar’s or commoner’s clothing. There is a story that the subjects of the realm in home he was most interested were the young women. This song tells the story of one such encounter.
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Water is Wide
Traditional. William Morris, vocals/guitar/piano.
A 17th century song of uncertain provenence – England, Ireland, and Scotland all claim it as their own, with parent ballads to back up the claims – the song speaks of the inherent challenges of love. Even true love, the narrator admits, can “fade away like morning dew.”
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Barnyards of Delgaty
Traditional. William Morris, vocals/guitar/bass.
This song I discovered on a friend’s fifteen year old videotape from a local renaissance festival. A Scottish Bothy ballad of uncertain provenance (it was earliest recorded in 1930), the story goes that a young man comes to Turra Market to seek work. A wealthy farmer promises him good conditions at Delgaty but the promises prove false: the horses are poor and lazy, and the working conditions bad. The man boasts of his abilities and cheerfully departs. The interesting bit in this particular song is not only is the author critical of the conditions, but goes so far as to name the farm as well.
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Raggle Taggle Gypsy
Traditional. William Morris, vocals/guitar/bass. Frank Blair, bazouki.
Dating from about 1720, the song tells the story of John Faw, a 17th century outlaw, described as a Scottish Gypsy, and Lady Jane Hamilton, wife of John Kennedy, 6th Earl of Cassilis. Lord Cassilis led a band of men to abduct her. The “Gypsies” were killed (except for one, who escaped) and Lady Jane Hamilton was imprisoned for the remainder of her life, dying in 1642.
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There Were Roses
Written by Thomas Sands. William Morris, vocals/guitar.
Arguably Sands’ best-known song, There Were Roses recounts how Allan Bell, a Protestant friend of Sands, was murdered in Newry. In the aftermath, a group of local Protestants “prowled round the Ryan Road” for a Catholic to kill in retaliation; ironically, the man they selected, Sean O’Malley, had been a good friend of Bell and Sands.
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Prairie Departure
Written by William Morris, vocals/guitar/piano/bass.
Prairie Departure is the story of why I was raised in Missouri, not Nebraska where I was born. My father ran afoul of some local loan sharks and the family had to flee the state in the middle of the night. The inspiration for the song – the imagery of driving South through the darkness out of Nebraska – comes from a poem written by my older brother Chris. I took a little poetic license with the characters in the song – I was only one year old at the time – but it happened more or less as described.
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South Australia
Traditional. William Morris, vocals/guitar/bass.
An 1880’s era English shanty, the song tells the oft-sung story of life at sea, the anticipation of the destination, and loved ones left behind. Having heard several “pirate” groups do this one – some of them making a testosterone-dripping cacophonous mess of it – I happened upon a couple of guys singing the song who actually were from Australia, performing at a bar in downtown Kansas City. I liked their rendition so much, I added it to my songbook.
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Kiri’s Piano
Written by James Keelaghan. William Morris, vocals/guitar.
This poignant piece tells about the internment of North Americans of Japanese ancestry after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Although I try hard to separate myself from the emotional flow of songs when I’m performing, it was several weeks before I could get through this song without choking on the fate of the old piano.
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White Hills of Home
Written by William Morris, vocals/guitar/piano/bass.
White Hills is about a small town in South-Eastern Nebraska called Weeping Water. My family – going back a few generations – is from that area, and many of them are buried ‘at the top of the hill’, as the song says and I spent a lot of summers there as a child. The town’s main industry is limestone mining, which turns the hills white during the summer months. On a visit to “Vic’s house”, as we called the little house on “O” street where my grandfather lived most of his life, I woke one July morning to a quarter-inch deep layer of white powder on everything I could see from the front windows. It was limestone dust, but my first impression was that it had snowed overnight.
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