"O where are you going ?".....straight to find
as many examples of "The
Cutty Wren" as
you can for structural comparison of that
<t'riffic traditional tune> - with its relentless
compulsion - to this more modern musing
on moo-moomanure. (At least it's not
about Midge
Ure, although you'll often
find midges
mingling over ordure).
~ Running Ordure ~
I won't make you trot off (with or without
"the
trots") to find ALL your own examples.
Instead, I shall paste what I find, starting
with my first (and favourite) disc-recovery
discovery from Ian
Campbell Folk Group,
in [THIS] post ; post posting the poem
and pointing out the preposterousness
of my prat-prating presentation of it.
“O where
are you going ?” said reader to rider,
“That valley is fatal when furnaces burn,
Yonder’s the midden where odours will madden,
That gap is the grave where the tall return.”
“O do
you imagine,” said fearer to farer,
“That dusk will delay on your path to the pass,
Your diligent looking discover the lacking
Your footsteps feel from granite to grass ?”
“O what
was that bird,” said horror to hearer,
“Did you see that shape in the twisted trees ?
Behind you swiftly the figure comes softly,
The spot on your skin is a shocking disease.”
“Out
of this house” - said rider to reader,
“Yours never will” - said farer to fearer,
“They’re looking for you” - said hearer to horror,
As he left them there, as he left them there.
~ POETIC POST CARD ~
This [POETIC POST CARD] is the first of
a series and, sparce and poorly-executed,
will, hopefully, remain the weakest in the
collection.
The inflection infliction of <Auden Audio>
is all (w)rung wrong in consequence of
my uninformed assumption that a
"Wystan Hugh..." had to be a Welshman
and not someone the English swapped
for "Thomas
Stearns..."
Lumbered and encumbered with a narrator
nattering in an (inane) accent entirely
inauthentic for its author, I was prompted
to animate the writer of "reader to
rider"
as a SILENT "hearer"
of "horror".
~ SCHISM CRITICISM ~
I thought it would be unusual and, perhaps,
interesting to show W.H.
Auden [MUTE]ly
refute and dispute a contemptuously bad
performance....[schneurph] but then I didn’t
deliverenough of him bonding with his
audience in a disdainful conspiracy
AGAINST the (detours of) awful
auditor(s)...or the sort of <awful-eyeful>
EDitors who would allow the inky inclusion
of the following slappable strap-line
---->
~ EXPRESSION(ISM) SCHISM
~
I expect the specifics of this animated,
agitated, Auden's
individual facial
expressions are largely lost, distracted
from by the word-by-word, read-in-RED
<thems-dems-does-goes-past-too-fast>
subtitles that I felt an EXTRA compulsion
to add having semi-watched the first two
episodes of “Can’t Read, Can’t Write”
Channel 4’s contemporary account of
the bane of adult illiteracy.
~ Adult Illiteracy ~
For centuries adult illiteracy
was the norm'.
It was "the norm'" for the Normans'
Saxon
subjects when the Latin-literate, .Francophone.
(foaming-at-the-mouth-of-"La
(munchy) Manche")
from-overseas overseers set one lingo for the
law and left another (Mother Tongue) for the lore.
~
Read 'em : FREEDOM ~
The aural aurora of the oral
lore is impervious
to fire, flood or frail forgetting. The song
serves the tribe not the scribe ; in its
resonance is permanence - and FREEDOM.
It was the TUNE that carried
"(The)
Cutty Wren"
across the centuries ; and across the world.
~
CUTTY WREN COLLECTION ~
The singers and the song, some
interpretations
of the same source material, presented at YouTube :
"Oh where are
you going ?" said Milder to Moulder
"Oh we may not tell you," said Festel to Fose
"We're off to the woods," said John the Red Nose
"We're off to the woods," said John the Red Nose
"What will you do there ?" said Milder to Moulder
"Oh we may not tell you," said Festel to Fose
"We'll hunt the Cutty Wren," said John the Red Nose
"We'll hunt the Cutty Wren, said John the Red Nose
"How will you shoot her ?" said Milder to Moulder
"Oh we may not tell you," said Festel to Fose
"With bows and with arrows," said John the Red Nose
"With bows and with arrows," said John the Red Nose
"Oh that will not do," said Milder to Moulder
"Oh what will do then ?" said Festel to Fose
"Big guns and big cannons," said John the Red Nose
"Big guns and big cannons," said John the Red Nose
"Oh how will you cut her up
?" said Milder to Moulder
"Oh we may not tell you," said Festel to Fose
"With knives and with forks," said John the Red Nose
"With knives and with forks," said John the Red Nose
"Oh that will not do," said Milder to Moulder
"Oh what will do then ?" said Festel to Fose
"Big hatchets and cleavers," said John the Red Nose
"Big hatchets and cleavers," said John the Red Nose
"Oh how will you cook her ?"
said Milder to Moulder
"Oh we may not tell you," said Festel to Fose
"In pots and in pans," said John the Red Nose
"In pots and in pans," said John the Red Nose
"Oh that will not do," said Milder to Moulder
"Oh what will do then ?" said Festel to Fose
"Bloody great brass cauldrons," said John the Red Nose
"Bloody great brass caudrons," said John the Red Nose
"Oh who'll get the spare ribs ?" said Milder to Moulder
"Oh we may not tell you," said Festal to Fose
"We'll give 'em all to the poor," said John the Red Nose
"We'll give 'em all to the poor," said John the Red Nose
~
Ian and Sylvia ~
Ian and Sylvia (Canadian)
:
Ian and Sylvia recording of "(The) Cutty Wren"
Ian and Sylvia Version
of "The Cutty Wren" Lyrics
Key = Extra Lyrics in RED,
Altered Lyrics on Yellow
Oh where are you going
?" said Milder to Moulder
"Oh we may not tell you," said Festel to Fose
"We're off to the woods," said John the Red Nose
"We're off to the woods," said John the Red Nose
"Oh what will you
do there ?" said Milder to Moulder
"Oh we may not tell you," said Festel to Fose
"We'll shoot the Cutty Wren,"
said John the Red Nose
"We'll shoot the Cutty Wren,
said John the Red Nose
"How will you shoot her ?" said Milder to Moulder
"Oh we may not tell you," said Festel to Fose
"With bows and with arrows," said John the Red Nose
"With bows and with arrows," said John the Red Nose
"Oh that will not do," said Milder to Moulder
"Oh what will do then ?" said Festel to Fose
"Big guns and big cannons," said John the Red Nose
"Big guns and big cannons," said John the Red Nose
(EXTRA LYRICS in RED)
"Oh how will you bring her home ?"
said Milder to Moulder
"Oh we may not tell you," said Festel to Fose
"On four strong men's shoulders," said John the Red Nose
"On four strong men's shoulders" said John the Red Nose
"Oh that will no do," said Milder
to Moulder
"Oh what will do then ?" said Festel to Fose
"Big carts and big wagons," said John the Red Nose
"Big carts and big wagons," said John the Red Nose
"Oh How will you cut
her up ?" said Milder to Moulder
"Oh we may not tell you," said Festel to Fose
"With knives and with forks," said John the Red Nose
"With knives and with forks," said John the Red Nose
"Oh that will not do," said Milder to Moulder
"Oh what will do then ?" said Festel to Fose
"Big hatchets and cleavers," said John the Red Nose
"Big hatchets and cleavers," said John the Red Nose
"Oh How will you cook
her ?" said Milder to Moulder
"Oh we may not tell you," said Festel to Fose
"With pots and with
pans," said John the Red Nose
"With pots and with
pans," said John the Red Nose
"Oh that will not do," said Milder to Moulder
"Oh what will do then ?" said Festel to Fose
"Bloody great brass cauldrons," said John the Red Nose
"Bloody great brass caudrons," said John the Red Nose
"And who'll get
the spare ribs ?" said Milder to Moulder
"Oh we may not tell you," said Festal to Fose
"We'll give 'em all to the poor," said John the Red Nose
"We'll give 'em all to the poor," said John the Red Nose
~
Mawkin : Causley ~
"Mawkin:Causley"
LIVE at the Wat Tyler Festival.
"Oh where are you going
?" says Milder to Moulder
"Oh I cannot tell you," says Fessell to Fose
"We're off to the green wood," says John the Red Nose
"We're off to the green wood," says John the Red Nose
"And what will you do
there ?" says Milder to Moulder
"Oh, I cannot tell you," says Fessell to Fose
"We'll kill the Cutty Wren," says John the Red Nose
"We'll kill the Cutty Wren," says John the Red Nose
"And how will you kill
her ?" says Milder to Moulder
"Oh, I cannot tell you," says Fessell to Fose
"With arrows and bows" says John the Red Nose
"With arrows and bows" says John the Red Nose
"Well that will not do,
sir," says Milder to Moulder
"Oh, what will do then ?" says Fessell to Fose
"Big guns and cannons," says John the Red Nose
"Oh, big guns and cannons," says John the Red Nose
"And how will you boil
her ?" says Milder to Moulder
"Oh, I may not tell you," says Fessell to Fose
"In pots and in kettles," says John the Red Nose
"In pots and in kettles," says John the Red Nose
"Well, that will not do,
sir," says Milder to Moulder
"Oh what will do then ?" says Fessell to Fose
"Brass pans and cauldrons," says John the Red Nose
"Brass pans and cauldrons," says John the Red Nose
"Who'll have the spare
ribs ?" says Milder to Moulder
"Oh, I cannot tell you," says Fessell to Fose
"Why the Lords and the Ladies," says John the Red Nose
"Oh the Lords and the Ladies," says John the Red Nose
"Well that will not do,
sir," says Milder to Moulder
"Oh what will do then ?" says Fessell to Fosse
"We'll give 'em to the poor," says John the Red Nose
"We'll give them to the poor," says John the Red Nose
~
CUTTY WREN LYRICS ~
Oh where are you going
said Milder to Moulder
Oh we may not tell you said Festel to Fose
We're off to the woods said John the Red Nose
We're off to the woods said John the Red Nose
And what will you do there said Milder to Moulder
We'll shoot the Cutty wren said John the Red Nose
And how will you shoot us said Milder to Moulder
With bows and with arrows said John the Red Nose
Oh that will not do said Milder to Moulder
Oh what will you do then said Festel to Fose
Great guns and great cannon said John the Red Nose
And how will you fetch her said Milder to Moulder
Oh we may not tell you said Festel to Fose
On four strong men's shoulders said John the Red Nose
Ah that will not do said Milder to Moulder
Oh what will do then said Festel to Fose
Great carts and great wagons said John the Red Nose
Oh how will you cut her up said Milder to Moulder
With knives and with forks said John the Red Nose
Oh that will not do said Milder to Moulder
Great hatchets and cleavers said John the Red Nose
Oh how will you boil her said Milder to Moulder
In pots and in kettles said John the Red Nose
O that will not do said Milder to Moulder
Great pans and large cauldrons said John the Red Nose
Oh who'll get the spare ribs said Milder to Moulder
We'll give 'em all to the poor said John the Red Nose