After learning to play the guitar, the fiddle, and the piano, as well as to sing, Rusby played at many local folk festivals as a child and adolescent. She came to wider attention through her duets with her friend and fellow Barnsley folk singer Kathryn Roberts on the 1995 album Kate Rusby & Kathryn Roberts.
At about this time she joined, and became the lead vocalist of, the all-female Celtic folk band The Poozies. This led to her becoming a founding member of the group Equation, which included Kathryn Roberts and Seth Lakeman. Rusby left Equation (being replaced by Cara Dillon) to follow a more traditional direction and, in 1997, released her debut solo album Hourglass produced by Scottish fiddler John McCusker (to whom Rusby was married for some time).
In 1999 Rusby recorded Sleepless which earned her a Mercury Music Prize nomination and the BBC Folk Award for Best Album and Best Folk Singer.
Rusby continues to release albums mixing traditional and self-penned songs on her own Pure Records, winning fans as diverse as Graham Coxon (who provided the illustration for her album The Girl Who Couldn't Fly) and collaborator Ronan Keating.
2008 saw the release of Sweet Bells, an album of traditional Christmas songs interpreted by Rusby.
In 2010, Rusby released the album Make the Light, a collection of self-penned songs, and in 2011 issued a second collection of Christmas songs titled While Mortals Sleep.
www.katerusby.com
The Collier Recruit
Kate Rusby Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
"Them soldier boys have picked him up and taken him far from me
Last pay-day he went into town and them red-coated fellows,
Enticed him in and made him drunk, and he'd better gone to the gallows.
The very sight of his cockade, it sets us all a-cryin', And me, I nearly fainted twice - I thought that I was dyin'
Me father said he'd pay the smart and he'd run for the Golden Guinea,
But the sergeant swore he'd kissed the book, so now they've got young Jimmy.
When Jimmy talks about the wars, it's worse than death to hear him.
I must go out and hide me tears, because I cannot bear him.
A Brigadier or a Grenadier he says they're sure to make him,
So now he jibes and cracks his jokes and bids me not forsake him.
As I walked o'er yon stubbled field - below where runs the seam,
I think on Jimmy hewing there, but it was all a dream.
He hewed the very coils we burn, so when this fire I'm leetin',
To think the lumps was in his hands - it sets me heart a-beating'.
So break me heart and then it's o'er, oh break me heart, me dearie,
As I lie in this cold, cold bed, of a single life I'm weary."
"The Collier Recruit" is a tragic love song sung by Kate Rusby that describes the plight of a young woman whose lover has been taken away by the red-coated fellows. The lyrics reveal that the woman's lover, Jimmy, has been conscripted into the army after being made drunk by the soldiers. The woman's father offers to pay the smart, a fine to release him, but the sergeant has already signed him up. The woman is heartbroken and cannot bear to hear Jimmy's stories about the war. When she walks over a stubbled field, she remembers Jimmy hewing there but knows it was only a dream. She feels the agony of his absence when she lights the lumps of coal he extracted. The song ends with the woman telling her lover to break her heart and end her life as she cannot bear to live a single life without him.
Line by Line Meaning
What's the matter with you, me lass, and where's your dashing Jimmy?
What is troubling you, my girl, and where is your handsome lover Jimmy?
Them soldier boys have picked him up and taken him far from me
The soldiers have arrested and taken him away from me
Last pay-day he went into town and them red-coated fellows,
On the last payday, he went to the town and met with the soldiers
Enticed him in and made him drunk, and he'd better gone to the gallows.
They lured him in, got him drunk, and put him in grave danger of being sentenced to death
The very sight of his cockade, it sets us all a-cryin'
Just seeing his military badge makes us all burst into tears
And me, I nearly fainted twice- I thought that I was dyin'
I was so overwhelmed with grief that I almost fainted twice
Me father said he'd pay the smart and he'd run for the Golden Guinea,
My father promised to pay a bribe and rescue Jimmy, but the soldiers refused
But the sergeant swore he'd kissed the book, so now they've got young Jimmy.
The sergeant insisted that he had taken an official oath and now they have arrested Jimmy
When Jimmy talks about the wars, it's worse than death to hear him.
Listening to Jimmy talk about the wars is unbearable and feels worse than dying
I must go out and hide me tears, because I cannot bear him.
I need to leave so that I can hide my tears as I cannot bear to see him like this
A Brigadier or a Grenadier he says they're sure to make him,
Jimmy believes that he will one day become a Brigadier or a Grenadier
So now he jibes and cracks his jokes and bids me not forsake him.
Jimmy tries to cheer me by making jokes and asks me not to leave him
As I walked o'er yon stubbled field- below where runs the seam,
As I walked over the field where they mine coal below ground,
I think on Jimmy hewing there, but it was all a dream.
Sometimes I imagine Jimmy still working in the mine, but it is just a dream
He hewed the very coils we burn, so when this fire I'm leetin',
He mined the very coal that we are burning, so when I light the fire
To think the lumps was in his hands- it sets me heart a-beatin'
The thought of Jimmy handling these lumps of coal makes my heart race
So break me heart and then it's o'er, oh break me heart, me dearie,
My heart is already broken, so let it completely shatter, my love
As I lie in this cold, cold bed, of a single life I'm weary.
As I lie in bed alone, I am tired of living a single life
Contributed by Julia V. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@DizzyVulpine
Kates voice is amazing. Would be the only thing to soothe my firstborn 10 years ago. Her cover of with of the Westmorland is simply divine.
@martynnotman3467
adore kate. she deserves so much more recognition
@kunaldas8458
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@NSYresearch
Totally agree... a voice that make you cry, jump for joy and everything inbetween.... AND ...AND .... she is an amazing, beautiful person AND shes from Yorkshire, happy Yorkshire Day Kate
@martynnotman3467
@@NSYresearch from 11 miles away from me!
@NSYresearch
@@martynnotman3467 I'm a Dewsbury lad now living in Somerset. But i used to work in Cawthorn at the pub.... worst job i ever had...lol
@RobertLocksley385
@@NSYresearch Not like the old lads, eh? Come on, old son-be the good Yorkshireman on tour and share the wealth of it with those who will never know what it's like to be the child of God's own country. Regards from the son of a Hull Para who remembers his people well.
@terrysharp4555
her voice is absolutely amazing sends a shiver down my spine
@audreydempsey247
I'm bawling like a baby listing this haunting peek into our ancestors lives.
@Real11BangBang
This is my 2 Year old sons favorite lullaby