Collins and her sister, Dolly, grew up in the Hastings area of East Sussex in a family which kept alive a great love of traditional song. Songs learnt from their grandfather and from their mother's sister, Grace Winborn, were to be important in the sisters' repertoire throughout their career.
On leaving school, at the age of 17, Shirley Collins enrolled at a teachers' training college in Tooting, south London. However, in London she also involved herself in the early folk revival and in 1954, at a party hosted by Ewan McColl, she met Alan Lomax, the famous American folk collector, who had moved to Britain to avoid the McCarthy witch-hunt which was then raging in America. Lomax and Collins began a romantic relationship which led to their undertaking a folk song collecting trip in the Southern states which lasted from July to November 1959 and resulted in many hours of recordings, featuring performers such as Almeda Riddle, Hobart Smith, and Bessie Jones and culminated in the discovery of Mississippi Fred McDowell. Recordings from this trip were issued by Atlantic Records under the title "Sounds of the South" and also featured in the Coen brothers’ film Oh Brother, Where Art Thou. The experience of her life with Lomax and the making of the recordings in religious communities, social gatherings, prisons and chain gangs was described in Collins's book America Over the Water (published 2004).
Back in Britain, Shirley Collins proceeded with her own singing career, and in a series of influential albums, she helped to introduce many innovations into the English folk revival. In 1964, she recorded the landmark jazz-folk fusion of Folk Roots, New Routes, with guitarist Davy Graham. 1967 saw the essentially southern English song collection, The Sweet Primeroses, on which she was accompanied for the first time by Dolly Collins's portative organ.
In 1969 there was another collaboration, this time with The Young Tradition (featuring Peter Bellamy, Heather Wood and Royston Wood) and Dolly Collins, The Holly Bears a Crown.
Shirley Collins's seminal recording is considered by many to be Anthems in Eden, released in 1969. It featured a suite of songs centred on the changes in rural England brought about by the First World War. Dolly Collins created arrangements featuring David Munrow and various other players from his Early Music Consort. The highly unusual combination of ancient instruments included rebecs, sackbuts, viols and crumhorns and hinted that the guitar was not the only appropriate accompaniment for the folk song. Several critics have suggested that it is impossible to imagine that electric accompaniment for traditional song, as successfully purveyed by Fairport Convention and Steeleye Span, could have developed quite as it did without the pioneering 'Anthems In Eden'.
All these recordings strove to marry a deep love and understanding of the English folk music heritage with a more contemporary attitude to musical settings. Anthems In Eden was followed by Love, Death & The Lady, and No Roses, recorded in 1971 with the Albion Country Band, and a total of 27 musicians.
Shirley Collins married Ashley Hutchings in 1971. He left Steeleye Span and the couple created the all acoustic Etchingham Steam Band with Terry Potter, Ian Holder and Vic Gammon. The Etchingham's repertoire was drawn from the traditional music of Sussex. With The Albion Dance Band, performing traditional material on a mixture of modern (electric) and mediaeval instruments, Shirley Collins recorded The Prospect Before Us.
1978's For As Many As Will was the last studio album recorded by Shirley and Dolly Collins. Shirley Collins soon retired from public performance, although she continues to lecture and to appear on radio as an authority on traditional music.
In 2004, Collins was awarded a Gold Badge by the English Folk Dance and Song Society and became patron of the South East Folk Arts Network in 2006. Also in 2006, Shirley appeared on Black Ships Ate The Sky, finishing the album with a sung version of the poem 'Idumæa'.
Collins was awarded the MBE for services to music in the Queen's New Year's Honours List, announced 30 December 2006. On 14 April 2007, she was awarded an Honorary Degree by the Open University, for a "Notable contribution to education and culture", while in 2008 she was given the "Good Tradition" award at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards.
In 2008 Collins was elected as president of the English Folk Dance and Song Society.
The Streets Of Derry
Shirley Collins Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And after evening another day,
And after false love there comes a true love,
Come listen now to what I say.
My love he is a handsome young man,
As fair as any that the sun shone on,
But how to win him I do not know,
As he walked out through the streets of Derry
I'm sure he stood out right manfully;
He looked more like a commanding officer
Than a man to die upon the gallow's tree.
"Oh, where's my love, she's so long in coming,
And what detains her so long from me;
Perhaps she thinks it's a shame, a scandal
For a man to die upon the gallow's tree."
He looked around and he saw her coming,
As she rode swifter than the wind;
She said, "I'll show them that they cannot hang you,
And I'll crown my love with a bunch of green."
The Streets of Derry by Shirley Collins is a ballad that narrates the story of a man who is sentenced to death by hanging and his lover who is desperate to save him. The first stanza of the song reflects the cyclic nature of time- how every morning is followed by an evening and every false love is ultimately replaced by true love. This line sets the tone for the whole song, acknowledging the inevitability of life's patterns and echoes the sentiment that even though the man may be sentenced to death, the sun will still rise the next day.
The second stanza introduces the lover who speaks of her beloved as handsome and fair. She is deeply in love with him but cannot imagine how to save him- this is the deep emotional conflict driving the song. The third and fourth stanzas recount how the man walks out through the streets of Derry and appears to be a dignified and brave man, standing tall despite his present situation. The fifth and sixth stanzas are a dialogue between the lover and the man as she rushes in to save him. He anxiously asks where she has been and she responds that she has a plan to save him, and will "crown my love with a bunch of green" symbolizing life and victory.
Overall, this song is a classic example of a ballad, a narrative poem or song that tells a story of human struggle and love. It speaks to the cyclic nature of life and how love can overcome even the most dire of situations.
Line by Line Meaning
And after morning there comes an evening,
Just as there are cycles in nature, there are cycles in life, where good times can be followed by challenging times.
And after evening another day,
Even in the darkest moments, there is always hope that tomorrow will be a new day.
And after false love there comes a true love,
If love is not genuine, it can never last. But a true love will come along that will be worth the wait.
Come listen now to what I say.
Pay attention to my words, for they are meant to bring comfort and wisdom.
My love he is a handsome young man,
The singer is in love with a young and attractive man.
As fair as any that the sun shone on,
He is beautiful and radiant, just like the sun shining on a clear day.
But how to win him I do not know,
The singer is uncertain of how to win over her love interest.
For now he has a sentence to be hung.
Her love is in a dire situation, facing a death sentence by hanging.
As he walked out through the streets of Derry
Her love walks boldly through the streets of Derry, facing his fate with courage and dignity.
I'm sure he stood out right manfully;
He stands out as a true man, bravely facing adversity and not giving in to fear.
He looked more like a commanding officer
He exudes a commanding presence, as if he were in charge of an army.
Than a man to die upon the gallow's tree.
He doesn't appear to be someone who deserves to meet such a gruesome end by hanging.
Oh, where's my love, she's so long in coming,
The singer is wondering why her love is taking so long to arrive.
And what detains her so long from me;
She is trying to understand the reason for the delay.
Perhaps she thinks it's a shame, a scandal
The singer believes her love interest may be hesitant to rescue him, afraid of the public judgment that may follow.
For a man to die upon the gallow's tree.
The idea of someone being executed so publicly is considered shameful and scandalous.
He looked around and he saw her coming,
The singer's love interest spots her coming from a distance.
As she rode swifter than the wind;
She approaches quickly, like the wind at her back.
She said, "I'll show them that they cannot hang you,
She declares her intention to save her love interest from the inevitable death sentence.
And I'll crown my love with a bunch of green."
If she successfully saves him, she promises to celebrate his life with a symbol of growth and vitality, a bunch of green leaves.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA/AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
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