2016 Album made with full trad band "Stray Hens". hens Tshirts are also available, as is an eponymous Stray hens Album from 2014.
Includes unlimited streaming of The Confluence
via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
ships out within 15 days
Purchasable with gift card
$25AUDor more
about
Written by Karine Polwart, this song is available on the 2000 release "Last Leaves', from Malinky..
The song is about a girl accused of witchery and burned alive, because she spurned the advances of a lecherous factor (tax collector).
A clip is available of the Hens performing this song at the Retreat Hotel in Brunswick.
lyrics
Marianna o' the Howe was a young lassie wi' gowden hair
Sweet and honest, true and bonnie, and lover of one John Sinclair
Marianna met the factor at the dawning, at the fold
And he said, "Lie with me now, Marianna, and you will not want for gold"
"Well, I thank you for your offer, but I fear it canna be
I maun lie with John Sinclair, for he's the only one for me"
So the factor, sore affronted, whispered evil of her name
Every sorrow and misfortune 'twas Marianna was to blame
Soon there came a deputation Marianna for to see
For to slight her reputation, "The de'il has laid his hands on ye
Ye've soured the cream and blighted the corn and danced wi' fairies on the hill
Ye who are of devil born and ye who bow to no man's will"
Seven evenings, seven mornings they spoke of Marianna ill
There they shamed her, stripped her and maimed her, but they never tamed her will
"Let her sweetness not deceive you, evil hides itself right well
Once within, it will never leave you, Marianna, you'll burn in hell"
"Who are these who stand against me? Who are these who slight my name?
Let them tell their lies before God and let them hang their heads in shame"
Then she saw a sight that grieved her, all the hope inside her died
John Sinclair all clad in satin standing at the factor's side
"I was child and now a woman, but I shall be no man's wife
For my love has me forsaken, and I want no more of this life"
They've shorn the hair from Marianna, the witch's snare o' gowden thread
Marched her tae the Gallowsha' and whipped her sair until she bled
In the crowd she spied her lover, and he had his new coat on
Soon the flames danced all above her, and the people danced 'til the dawn
Marianna o' the Howe, was a young lassie wi' gowden hair
Sweet and honest, true and bonnie, betrayed by the factor and John Sinclair
credits
from The Confluence,
track released December 2, 2016
Written by Karine Polwart,
Arranged by Mandy Connell and Rowena Wise
Recorded by the Stray Hens at Echidna Studios (Christmas Hills, VIC)
Alysia Manceau elegantly weaves her psychedelic balladry into a timeless landscape. Haunting vocals soar across layers of instrumentation in nine confessional songs of discovery, redemption and love. Mandy Connell
Stirring Americana set to acoustic arrangements and topped by the legendary Alice Gerrard’s lovely, world-wise voice. Bandcamp New & Notable Oct 23, 2023
The lead singer of punk band Camp Cope ventures into romantic synth-pop territory, tempering slick arrangements with bare sentiment.
Bandcamp New & Notable Jan 8, 2020
Deeply-felt, folk-derived indiepop from Melbourne that balances lovely, quavering vocal melodies with twinkling acoustics. Bandcamp New & Notable Feb 18, 2017
Introspective, homespun folk tunes from John Donne that feel informed by the sugary bleakness of '80s and '90s indie pop. Bandcamp New & Notable Aug 1, 2023
