The Green Oak Tree

Hey. How ye?

Just wanted to take a wee moment to say "thanks very much" to all the new readers who have joined us this month...December is always good fun on the blog. But stick with us! Next year we have smugglers, saints, more arthurian legends Inverclyde style, the strange histories of local buildings and more.

Y'know, with Christmas behind us, and only the long dark January ahead, it would be easy to feel worried about what the next 12 months have in store; in fact, its probably the most logical response to the information in front of us right now. But this is a folklore blog; logic isnt really on the agenda. So first up. here's a message of hope for life and the New Year.

And bringing our year to a close and rounding off our Downriver folksong collection, here is a wee tune to be singing after the bells. (the whole playlist is down below)

The Gringos - The Green Oak Tree by Auld Dunrod

Have a good one whatever yer up to. And remember...

"Despair is a black leather jacket that everyone looks good in. Hope is a frilly pink dress that exposes your knees." - Rebecca Solnit

See you in 2012 for the apocalypse.

The Green Oak Tree

I’ll sing a song about a toon that stands upon the Clyde

And every time I here it’s name my heart is filled with pride

My mother often told me as she soothed me on her knee

That Greenock took its name from the Green Oak Tree

So here’s tae the Green Oak that stood upon the square

And here’s tae its roots that still lie slumbering there

And here’s tae my toonsmen wherever they may be

For I’m proud to say that I’m a branch of the Green Oak Tree

Now Greenock’s no a bonny toon I’ve heard some folks complain

For every time they go doon there there’s nothing to see but rain

But let them say what e’r they may with them I’ll no agree

For Greenock toon and Greenock folks will aye be dear tae me

Downriver by Auld Dunrod

A Celebration Ode

Today we present the first in a series of selections from an album of local folksongs – Downriver : A Celebration Ode.

In Magic Torch’s ongoing researches into local folklore and tradition we found we were often coming across fragments of songs or ballads either about Inverclyde, or written by Inverclyders. And there seemed to be no way to properly compile them, to do them justice. In 2005 we were approached by Life Injection, a local recording studio who had just completed a CD of reinterpretations of Robert Burns poems. They also had a handful of old Greenock, Gourock and Port Glasgow songs which they wanted to “do something” with and so we decided to collaborate on a collection of local folk songs. 

Magic Torch researched and compiled a “songbook” of around thirty compositions, and from there worked with Life Injection to whittle the list down. We tried to steer clear of the more well known songs – though we made an obvious exception for The Green Oak Tree – and instead opted for pieces which reflected the lives and times of the people who have passed through Inverclyde across the ages; Irishmen building the “new” railway; Highlanders leaving for the colonies; the “celebration ode” which commemorated the inauguration of the James Watt Dock; a ballad detailing the exploits of a local warlock in the seventeenth century; the Romantic piano compositions of Hamish McCunn. What amazed us all was the incredible diversity of what was available.

The songs which were eventually chosen were then reinterpreted and recorded by a tremendous selection of local musicians. Very few of the ballads, broadsheets and poems detailed the appropriate musical accompaniment, and so it was left to the musicians to bring their own compositions, bringing something new to the tradition while at the same time preserving them for future audiences.

Downriver was engineered and recorded by Jim Lang, Graeme McLeod, Barry McPhail and Steven Stewart. The record was produced by li media.

Thanks here to everyone involved in the making of this album;  shelagh mckay, jon milloy, paul mclaughlin, willie irvine, kevin murphy, gordon campbell, kylie campbell, mark anderson (and kirsty, his lass frae the port), graeme mcleod, jim lang, malky mckenzie, steven stewart, chris black, barry  mcphail, jennifer lang.

Everyone gave their time and talent free gratis for this Heritage Lottery Funded project and no income was generated from the recordings.

There are still a few songs left unrecorded, so if anyone fancies doing a ska version of "The Katy of Lochgoil" or baggying up "The Fisherman and the Monkey"...get in touch.

This first recording is “A Celebration Ode”, a poem which was written to celebrate the completion of the James Watt Dock, a site still very important to Inverclyde, and the setting for this years Tall Ships Event. They're looking for volunteers if you're feeling helpful.

A Celebration Ode

6th August 1881

Calm ye, ye winds and cease to pour

Ye clouds your burdens from your height

Let the bright sun shine on the hour

That marks an epoch in time’s flight

Truce to all feuds and petty frays

Ye scribblers with a ranc’rous pen

Drown ye your plaints in words of praise

For Greenock grit and Greenock men

Thus have we come by leaps and bounds

To hold the vantage nature gives

‘Spite the veiled darts of feigned friends

Let in be known that Greenock lives

Come rain or sun come foul or fair

Nothing shall daunt her enterprise

Still shall her sons in commerce dare

To greater heights of triumph rise

This one vast stride in progress’ way

Hath taught us well the lesson that

Here must  we raise this August day

A monument to glorious Watt