Well, I've been threatening to do this for a while now, and this week, I've finally decided to do it. It's Thanksgiving weekend here in Canada, a time when we traditionally celebrate the harvest and the bounty of the past summer. I decided that this year, we'd celebrate it by taking a detailed look at likely one of the most widely-recorded English folk songs ever: John Barleycorn. There are many variations of tune and lyrics, but the main theme of the song is the journey of the Barley from seed-time through the harvest and even into the malting process where it eventually ends up as whisky and beer.
Barley is one of the cereal crops which has historically sustained human life, and so it is perhaps fitting that the song was written and has lasted for such a long time, at least 400 years. no one knows for sure if it is truly a traditional folk song or if someone wrote it in the style of one back in the 1600s. However, there is a long history in English folklore of personifying things that are important to the people and the land. The barley is something that goes through a cycle of death and resurrection with the turning of the year, and it is also transformed into bread and into whisky, which comes from the Gaelic words for "water of life."
So, we're going to look together at this timeless tale of the year's turning. I think it will be fun. I'm dispensing with our usual features this week to make room for this extended feature, but there'll be lots of other great music as usual.
Join me for Come by the Hills on Sunday night right after Steve and The Early Years, or on Friday morning following Jonathan's Smorgasbord!