He was born in Hatfield and grew up in Hampstead, London. After training as an actor he sang in coffee bars. He became a resident at the Troubador folk club in Earls Court in the late 1950s. He joined Redd Sullivan's Thameside Four in 1961. He is a renowned solo performer of traditional songs in a very distinctive style, accompanying himself on his trusty old Martin Guitar; his style is marked by the use of alternate tunings, and a strongly percussive picking style that emphasizes the melody. His debut album, Martin Carthy, was released in 1965, and also featured Dave Swarbrick playing fiddle on some tracks, although he was not mentioned in the album's sleeve notes.
He has also been involved with many musical collaborations. He has sung with The Watersons since 1972, was an early member of the UK folk rock group Steeleye Span, and was part of the innovative Brass Monkey ensemble, which mixed a range of brass instruments with Carthy's guitar and mandolin and John Kirkpatrick's accordion, melodeon and concertina.
For many years Carthy has enjoyed a creative partnership with fiddle player Dave Swarbrick. More recently, Waterson:Carthy has provided the forum for a successful partnership with partner Norma Waterson together with their daughter Eliza Carthy.
In June 1998 he was awarded the MBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours. He was named Folk Singer of the Year at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards in 2002, and again in 2005 when he also won the award for Best Traditional Track for 'Famous Flower of Serving Men'.
The Wind That Shakes The Barley
Martin Carthy Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And my fond heart strove to choose between the old love and the new love
The old for her the new that made me think on Ireland dearly
While soft the wind blew down the glade and shook the golden barley
Twas hard for mournful words to frame to break the ties that bound us
Ah but harder still to bear the shame of foreign chains around us
And so I said the mountain glen I'll seek at morning early
And join the brave united men while soft winds shook the barley
Twas sad I kissed away her tears her arms around me clinging
When to my ears that fateful shot came out the wild wood ringing
The bullet pierced my true love's breast in life's young spring so early
And there upon my breast she died while soft winds shook the barley
I bore her to some mountain stream and many's the summer blossom
I placed with branches soft and green about her gore-stained bosom
I wept and kissed her clay-cold corpse then rushed o'er vale and valley
My vengeance on the foe to wreak while soft winds shook the barley
And it's blood for blood without remorse I've took in Oulart Hollow*
While to her grave my love's cold corpse where I full soon may follow
Around her grave I wander drear noon night and morning early
With breaking heart whene'er I hear the wind that shakes the barley
The Wind That Shakes The Barley is a traditional Irish song that was eventually adapted and popularized by English folk musician Martin Carthy. The song tells the story of a man who is torn between two loves - his old love and his new love, which makes him think of Ireland. As he sits with his true love in a green valley, he struggles to choose between the two. However, the decision is eventually made for him when he decides to join the brave united men fighting against foreign rule.
The song then takes a tragic turn when the man's true love is unexpectedly shot and killed. The man is heartbroken and swears vengeance against those responsible. He buries his love with summer blossoms and mourns her loss, wandering around her grave day and night, but is always reminded of his love and loss when the wind shakes the barley.
Line by Line Meaning
I sat within the valley green sat there with my true love
I sat in a green valley with my love.
And my fond heart strove to choose between the old love and the new love
My heart struggled to choose between past love and present love.
The old for her the new that made me think on Ireland dearly
My old love was for her and my new love made me think about Ireland.
While soft the wind blew down the glade and shook the golden barley
The wind blew softly down the valley and shook the barley.
Twas hard for mournful words to frame to break the ties that bound us
It was difficult to express sadness and end our relationship.
Ah but harder still to bear the shame of foreign chains around us
It was even harder to bear the shame of being a prisoner of another country.
And so I said the mountain glen I'll seek at morning early
So I decided to go to the mountain glen tomorrow morning.
And join the brave united men while soft winds shook the barley
And join the brave men while the wind shook the barley.
Twas sad I kissed away her tears her arms around me clinging
It was sad to kiss away her tears as she clung to me.
When to my ears that fateful shot came out the wild wood ringing
When I heard the fatal gunshot coming from the woods.
The bullet pierced my true love's breast in life's young spring so early
The bullet went through my love's chest in the early days of our life.
And there upon my breast she died while soft winds shook the barley
She died on my chest as the wind shook the barley.
I bore her to some mountain stream and many's the summer blossom
I took her to a stream in the mountains and laid summer flowers on her.
I placed with branches soft and green about her gore-stained bosom
I put soft and green branches around her bloody chest.
I wept and kissed her clay-cold corpse then rushed o'er vale and valley
I cried, kissed her lifeless body, and then ran over the valley.
My vengeance on the foe to wreak while soft winds shook the barley
I sought revenge against the enemy while the wind shook the barley.
And it's blood for blood without remorse I've took in Oulart Hollow*
I took revenge in Oulart Hollow without regretting a life for a life.
While to her grave my love's cold corpse where I full soon may follow
I will soon follow my love's cold body to the grave.
Around her grave I wander drear noon night and morning early
I walk around her grave at all times of the day and night.
With breaking heart whene'er I hear the wind that shakes the barley
My heart breaks whenever I hear the wind that shook the barley.
Contributed by Lauren P. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Robert Hercliffe
Martin may be English but this is the definitive version of this achingly beautiful song of Ireland's suffering.
Jenson
honestly no one cares lad, which country hasnt had suffering or a famine? do you see english people crying about the vikings or the french crying about the romans or japanese people crying about 2 nuclear bombs? long time ago now lad move on.
Jim McKendrick
The video editing put me to mind of Marry Waterson, but I haven’t found credits to confirm/deny my conjecture