Harvest Songs | Forgotten Melodies #5
The Three Ravens PodcastPlay episode
Show notes
Grab your scythe, your nut-brown bowl, and keep an eye on the Farmer's Daughter, as on this month's Forgotten Melodies bonus episode we're talking all about Harvest Songs - in particular, We Gets Up In The Morn, John Barleycorn, and The Barley and the Rye!
As ever, the episode contains new takes on all three of these songs from Eleanor and Ben, who are also joined by Katie 'The Harmony Machine' Sommers, with Martin joining in with chat about the history behind each song, and traditions related to harvest rituals.
Because let us not forget, the first Christian harvest church services only came about during the 19th century, yet some of these songs date from before Shakespeare. As such, they speak to much longer traditions of autumnal celebration linked to the three phases of harvest, and narratives around it.
From Papua New Guinean rituals linked to yams to the ladies-only Classical-era harvest festival of Thesmophoria, we chat through the surprisingly universal ideas of what people celebrate when it comes to gathering in crops; everybody appreciates the deity that brings the rain, but what about the Divine Feminine - Mother Earth - who appears is many forms across the world?
As always, we really hope you enjoy the episode, and set your calendars for next month's Haunting Season-themed episode of Forgotten Melodies, on which we will be singing (and talking) all about Murder Ballads...
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Three Ravens is a completely independent English myth and folklore podcast where we share stories, celebrate folk culture, and fall backwards through the hedgerows of history.
Hosted by real-life couple Eleanor Conlon and Martin Vaux, and mostly recorded at our home in rural Sussex in southern England, Three Ravens is rated 4.8/5 from over 500 reviews and has grown by word of mouth care of our lovely listener community ‘The Conspiracy of Ravens.’
We release three episodes a week, on Mondays, Thursday and Saturdays, through which we explore folktales, folkways, fairy stories, folk songs, mythology, local heritage, seasonal customs and traditional beliefs.
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