Tabor's earliest public performances were at the Heart of England Folk Club (at the Fox and Vivian pub) in Leamington Spa in the mid 1960s. In the late 1960s an appearance at the Sidmouth Folk Festival led to folk club bookings and she contributed to various records. One of her earliest recordings was in 1972 on an anthology called Stagfolk Live. She also featured on Rosie Hardman's Firebird (1972) and The First Folk Review Record (1974). At the time she was singing purely traditional unaccompanied material but in 1976 she collaborated with Maddy Prior on the Silly Sisters album and tour, with a full band that included Nic Jones. It provided the launching pad that same year (1976) for her first album in her own right, Airs and Graces. She later joined again with Prior, this time using the name Silly Sisters for their duo. Starting in 1977 Martin Simpson joined her in the recording studio for three albums before he moved to America in 1987. (Simpson has returned from America to be a guest guitarist on albums in the 2000s.) After his departure, she started working closely with pianist Huw Warren.
In 1990, Tabor recorded an album with the folk-rock band OysterBand entitled Freedom and Rain. She went on tour with OysterBand, and the Rykodisc label published a limited-run promotional live album the following year. Many of her current fans first discovered her through this tour and album with the OysterBand. In 1992 Elvis Costello wrote "All This Useless Beauty" specifically for Tabor, and she recorded it on Angel Tiger.
Since then her solo albums have included:
A Quiet Eye (1999)
Rosa Mundi (2001)
An Echo of Hooves (2003)
At the Wood's Heart (2005)
Apples (2007)
Ashore (2011)
Ragged Kingdom is a 2011 album by June Tabor & Oysterband.
Since 2006, Tabor has also been working with Huw Warren and Iain Ballamy as Quercus.
Website: www.junetabor.co.uk
The Border Widow's Lament
June Tabor Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And clad it o'er with lily flower
A bonnier bower you ne'er did see
Than my true love he built for me
There came a man by middle day
He spied his sport and went away
And brought the King that very night,
He slew my knight to me so dear
He slew my knight and seized his gear
My servants all for life did flee
And left me in extremity
I sewed his shroud, making my moan
I watched his corpse, myself alone
I watched his body night and day
No living creature came that way
I took his body on my back
And whiles I walked and whiles I sat
I digged a grave and laid him in,
And happed him with the turf so green
Oh, don't you think my heart was sore,
As I laid the earth on his yellow hair
Oh, don't you think my heart was woe,
As I turned about, away to go
No living man I'll love again
Since that my lovely knight is slain
With just one lock of his yellow hair
I'll chain my heart forevermore
In The Border Widow's Lament, June Tabor sings from the perspective of a woman whose husband was killed by the King. The woman's husband had built her a beautiful bower covered in lilies, but it was destroyed by the King, who also killed her husband and seized his belongings. The woman was left alone and mourning her husband's death. She made his shroud and watched over his corpse, which she eventually buried herself, laying him to rest with a green turf. The woman is heartbroken and swears to never love again, stating that she will always hold onto a lock of her husband's yellow hair as a reminder of their love.
The song is a tragic tale of love, loss, and grief - themes that are commonly found in traditional folk music. Through the woman’s words, we learn about the injustice and pain that can be caused by those in positions of power. The lyrics also reveal the strength and resilience of the human spirit as the woman faces her tragedy with determination.
Line by Line Meaning
My love, he built me a bonny bower
My lover built me a beautiful shelter
And clad it o'er with lily flower
And decorated it with lilies
A bonnier bower you ne'er did see
You would not find a more beautiful shelter
Than my true love he built for me
Than the one built for me by my true love
There came a man by middle day
One day in the middle of the day, a man arrived
He spied his sport and went away
After watching his entertainment, he left
And brought the King that very night,
That very night, he informed the King
Who broke my bower and slew my knight
Who destroyed my shelter and killed my lover
He slew my knight to me so dear
He killed my beloved knight
He slew my knight and seized his gear
He killed my knight and took his possessions
My servants all for life did flee
My servants fled for their lives
And left me in extremity
Leaving me in great difficulty
I sewed his shroud, making my moan
I cried and mourned as I sewed his burial garment
I watched his corpse, myself alone
Alone, I watched over his lifeless body
I watched his body night and day
I kept vigil over his body both day and night
No living creature came that way
No living creature passed by
I took his body on my back
I carried his body on my back
And whiles I walked and whiles I sat
Sometimes walking, sometimes sitting
I digged a grave and laid him in,
I dug a grave and laid him in it
And happed him with the turf so green
Covered him with green sods
Oh, don't you think my heart was sore,
My heart was very sad
As I laid the earth on his yellow hair
When I covered his blonde hair with earth
Oh, don't you think my heart was woe,
My heart was filled with grief
As I turned about, away to go
As I turned away to leave
No living man I'll love again
I will never love another living man
Since that my lovely knight is slain
Since my beloved knight was killed
With just one lock of his yellow hair
With a single lock of his blonde hair
I'll chain my heart forevermore
I will keep my heart forever bound to him
Contributed by Gavin W. Suggest a correction in the comments below.