> Folk Music > Songs > The Witch of the Westmorlands
The Witch of the Westmorlands
[Archie Fisher]
Archie Fisher sang his own ballad The Witch of the West-Mer-Lands in 1976 on his Folk-Legacy album The Man With a Rhyme. He commented in his liner notes:
I have borrowed, for this song, the form of the narrative ballad. The ingredients are a mixture of legend, superstition, and ballad themes brought into focus by the Lakeland painter, Joni Turner. As far as I know, the female centaur is not a creature of mythology, and this role of witch disguise was suggested by the tales of antlered women with bodies of deer seen wading in the shallows of the lakes in the moonlight. There are many pleasant and hospitable inns in the Lake District.
Barbara Dickson sang Witch of the Westmorlands in 1971 on her album From the Beggar's Mantle. Archie Fisher played guitar and concertina on this album, too.
Stan Rogers sang The Witch of the Westmorland in April 1979 live at The Groaning Board, Toronto. This concert was released in the same year on his album Between the Breaks… Live!. He commented in the liner notes:
I first heard this song on Archie Fisher' beautiful album for Folk-Legacy Records, The Man With a Rhyme, where it is called The Witch of the West-Mer-Lands. In a recent letter, Archie referred to it as simply “Westmoreland”, and I've used that spelling here. We have edited three verses from the original, and modernised the language a little for the sake of having the story understood by the average North American listener at the first pass. I highly recommend Archie's version to those of you who want all the verses.
Grace Notes (Maggie Boyle, Lynda Hardcastle and Helen Hockenhull) sang Witch of the Westmorlands in 1998 on their Fellside CD Red Wine & Promises. Helen Hockenhull commented in the liner notes:
We first heard this song on a Stan Rogers album and learned his version. Later we discovered that it was written by Archie Fisher whose original words were rather different. As the words were difficult enough to learn in the first place we found it impossible to change them (Sorry Archie). The story remains intact however and it is a wonderful epic.
Kate Rusby sang Witch of the Westmorland in 2016 on her CD Life in a Paperboat.
You Are Wolf sang Witch of the Westmerlands on her 2018 album Keld. She noted:
A wonderful narrative folk ballad by Archie Fisher, released in 1976 on his album The Man With a Rhyme. Archie says:
The original myth about female centaurs in Windermere first came to my attention when I saw a painting by the Lake District artist Joni Crosby. Apparently deer used to swim across the shallow end of Lake Windermere and weeds got caught in their antlers and observers, probably wandering home from a local hostelry, took them to be these mythical creatures.
Archie made a sequel called The Return and is working on a prequel for a recording project that will become a trilogy on the Witch theme.
Lyrics
Archie Fisher sings The Witch of the West-Mer-Lands | Grace Notes sings Witch of the Westmorlands |
---|---|
Pale was the wounded knight |
Pale was the wounded knight |
Saying, “Beck water, cold and clear, |
Singing, “Beck water, cold and clear, |
“So course well, my brindled hounds, | |
Who said, “Green moss and heather bands | |
“So turn, turn your stallion's head |
“Turn, turn your stallion's head |
And clear was the paley moon |
Clear was the waning moon |
Saying, “Why do you ride this way |
Singing, “Why do you ride this way |
“Then fly free your good grey hawk | |
And it's weary by the Ullswater |
And it's weary by the Ullswater |
He said, “Lie down, my brindled hounds, |
He said, “Lie down you brindled hound |
“But come when you hear my horn |
”Come when you hear my horn |
And it's down to the water's brim |
And it's down to the water's brim |
And wet rose she from the lake |
Wet rose she from the lake |
And loud, long and shrill he blew, |
Loud, long and shrill he blew, |
Saying, “Course well, my brindled hounds, |
“Course well, my brindled hound, |
She said, “Pray sheath thy silvery sword, |
She said, “Pray sheath thy silvery sword, |
And she stood in a gown of the velvet blue, |
She stood in a gown of velvet blue, |
She's bound his wounds with the goldenrod, |
And she's bound his wounds with the goldenrod, |
She said, “Ride with your brindled hound at heel |
“Ride with your brindled hound at heel |
She said, “Ride with your brindled hound at heel |