Oak, Ash and Thorn

by Louisa John-Krol

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Cindy-Lee Harper I love this song, an old favourite of mine.

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about

In 1991 I composed this melody for Rudyard Kipling's poem 'A Tree Song' in 'Puck of Pook's Hill', first published 1906. It appeared on my debut CD Argo in 1996. Puck's ode to trees celebrates wild, ancient aspects of Faery. It's also a tribute to Shakespeare's play, 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'. Oak, Ash and Thorn are three magical trees associated with Puck Robin, guardian of the greenwood, also known as Robin Goodfellow, The Green Man and other names; as such, this is a universal hymn for all trees. In another volume by Kipling, 'Songs From Books', he added a head date: AD 1200, perhaps to imply archaic origins, such as Virgil's Aeneid and Norse/ Germanic god Völund/ Wayland/ Weland; Kipling had read the story 'Weyland's Sword' (that appeared in Strand Magazine 1906) and the 12th century text 'A History of the Kings of Britain' by Geoffrey of Monmouth. For me as a Celtic Australian, raised in bushland with a Welsh immigrant father, and reading about Narnian dryads, Faeries by Froud and Lee, classical myths, Druids and the Dreaming of the First People here, loving trees felt natural: the message of this song is that we live and die by trees. This is an indisputable truth. Quite literally, forests help us to breathe.

lyrics

I

Of all the trees that grow so fair, Old England to adorn,
Greater are none beneath the Sun, than Oak, and Ash, and Thorn
Sing Oak, and Ash, and Thorn, good Sirs (All of a Midsummer morn!)
Surely we sing no little thing, in Oak, and Ash, and Thorn!

II

Oak of the Clay lived many a day, or ever Aeneas began;
Ash of the Loam was a lady at home, when Brut was an outlaw man;
Thorn of the Down saw New Troy Town (From which was London born);
Witness hereby the ancientry of Oak, and Ash, and Thorn!

III

Yew that is old in churchyard mould, he breedeth a mighty bow;
Alder for shoes do wise men choose, and beech for cups also.
But when ye have killed, an your bowl is spilled, an your shoes are clean outworn,
Back ye must speed for all that ye need, to Oak, and Ash, and Thorn!

IV

Ellum she hateth mankind, and waiteth till every gust be laid,
To drop a limb on the head of him that anyway trusts her shade:
But whether a lad be sober or sad, or mellow with ale from the horn,
He will take no wrong when he lieth along ‘neath Oak, and Ash, and Thorn!

V

Oh, do not tell the Priest our plight, or he would call it a sin;
But - we have been out in the woods all night, a-conjuring Summer in!
And we bring you news by word of mouth - good news for cattle and corn –
Now is the Sun come up from the South, with Oak, and Ash, and Thorn!

VI

Sing Oak, and Ash, and Thorn, good Sirs (All of a Midsummer morn)!
England shall bide till Judgment Tide, by Oak, and Ash, and Thorn!
(Sing Oak and Ash and Thorn! Sing Oak and Ash and Thorn!

credits

released May 3, 1996
Music composition: Louisa John-Krol, 1991
Melodies (for sung lyrics & other tunes, vocal or instrumental)
Vocals (leading lines, harmonies, scatting, squealing woodland revellers, and ahhhhh the sighing trees): Louisa John-Krol
Lyrics by Rudyard Kipling from a poem 'A Tree Song' in his novel 'Puck of Pook's Hill'
Produced with Harry Williamson at Spring Studio, Melbourne, Australia.
Instrumentation / Performance:
- vocals, organs, synth chords & harpsichord: Louisa John-Krol
- Puck (narration): Harry Williamson
- percussion, effects (e.g. creaking trees) & Baroque orchestral soundscape: Harry Williamson
Thanks to Mark Krol for introducing me to this timeless book and inspiring me to compose a melody for a poem that so deeply embodies Puck.

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about

Louisa John-Krol Australia

Louisa is an Australian singer, composer, writer & faery storyteller who has released many albums of ethereal music on indie labels, primarily in France. She's completing a fantasy series, The Elderbrook Chronicles, with a soundtrack.

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