Tensions between the band grew during the production in 1970 of their first album, Hark! The Village Wait to the point where they never again worked together after its completion, but the music itself shows no signs of these difficulties. While having a rock sensibility there is a greater sense of the authentic folk tradition than even in the best of Fairport, and a particular beauty arising from the two pairs of voices. The Woods being replaced by admired folk stalwart Martin Carthy, with violinist Peter Knight to widen the musical textures, the group late in 1970 recorded their most admired record Please to see the King. Ten Man Mop followed in 1971, more accomplished but generally felt to be less exciting. The expensive gatefold sleeve swallowed the band's royalties, and was referred to as a tombstone, since Hutchings and Carthy then left, to pursue Hutchings' new vision of a specifically English strand of folk rock with The Albion Band, and Steeleye Mk 2 folded.
However the inclusion of the less celebrated and more rock orientated replacements Rick Kemp and Bob Johnson led to the most commercially successful phase in the band's existence, vocalist Maddy Prior becoming the primary focus of the band, and a run of well received albums, from Below the Salt and Now we Are Six, their first with drummer Nigel Pegrum, to their eighth, and most commercially successful, All Around my Hat, in 1975.
Still active, they have a claim to be one of the longest-lived and perhaps the most commercially successful of all the folk rock bands of the era, thanks to their hit singles Gaudete and All Around My Hat, 3 top 40 albums and even a certified "gold" record with All Around My Hat.
Tim Hart died of lung cancer on 24 December 2009, aged 61.
Elf Knight
Steeleye Span Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Fine flowers in the valley
He blows his horn both loud and shrill
As the rose is blown
He blows it East, he blows it West
Fine flowers in the valley
He blows it where he liketh best
Lady Isabel sits a-sewing
Fine flowers in the valley
When she heard the elf-knight's horn a-blowing
As the rose is blown
'Would I had that horn a-blowing'
Fine flowers in the valley
'And yon elf-knight for to sleep in my bosom'
As the rose is blown
Scarcely had she these words spoken
Fine flowers in the valley
When in at the window the elf-knight's broken
As the rose is blown
'It's a very strange matter, fair maid' said he
Fine flowers in the valley
'I cannot blow my horn, but you call on me'
As the rose is blown
'But will you go to the greenwood side?"
Fine flowers in the valley
'If you will not go, I'll cause you to ride'
As the rose is blown
He leapt on his horse and she on another
Fine flowers in the valley
And they rode on to the greenwood together
As the rose is blown
'Light down, light down, Isabel' said he
Fine flowers in the valley
'For we're come to the place where you are to die'
As the rose is blown
'It's seven kings daughters, here have I slain'
Fine flowers in the valley
'And you shall be the eighth of them'
As the rose is blown
'Sit down a-while, lay your head on my knee'
Fine flowers in the valley
'That we may rest before I die'
As the rose is blown
She stroked him so fast the nearer he did creep
Fine flowers in the valley
And with a small charm, she's lulled him to sleep
As the rose is blown
With his own sword-belt, so fast she's bound him
Fine flowers in the valley
With his own dagger so sore she's stabbed him
As the rose is blown
'If seven kings daughters here have you slain'
Fine flowers in the valley
'Then lie you here, a husband to them all'
As the rose is blown
The song "Elf Knight" by Steeleye Span is a traditional ballad about a young woman named Lady Isabel who hears the horn of the elf-knight blowing in the distance. She wishes she had the power to control the horn, and calls out to the elf-knight to come to her. He promptly appears at her window, and despite his strange appearance and behavior, Lady Isabel agrees to ride out with him to the greenwood. Once there, the elf-knight reveals that he has killed seven other princesses before and intends to kill Lady Isabel as well. He asks her to rest her head on his knee before he kills her, and she cunningly lulls him to sleep with a charm before killing him with his own dagger. She then takes his sword-belt and uses it to bind his body, declaring that he can lie there as a husband to the seven princesses he killed before her.
Line by Line Meaning
The elf-knight sits on yonder hill
The elf-knight is present on a hill in the distance
Fine flowers in the valley
The valley is adorned with beautiful flowers
He blows his horn both loud and shrill
The elf-knight loudly and boldly plays his horn
As the rose is blown
His blowing of the horn is likened to the blossoming of a rose
He blows it East, he blows it West
The horn is blown in all directions
He blows it where he liketh best
He plays his horn wherever he pleases
Lady Isabel sits a-sewing
Lady Isabel is calmly and quietly sewing
When she heard the elf-knight's horn a-blowing
Lady Isabel becomes aware of the elf-knight's playing of the horn
Would I had that horn a-blowing
Lady Isabel desires to possess the same horn that the elf-knight plays
And yon elf-knight for to sleep in my bosom
She wishes for the knight to sleep in her embrace
Scarcely had she these words spoken
She has just finished uttering these words
When in at the window the elf-knight's broken
The elf-knight suddenly enters through the window
It's a very strange matter, fair maid' said he
The knight remarks on the unusual situation
I cannot blow my horn, but you call on me'
The knight claims to be unable to play his horn unless summoned by Lady Isabel
But will you go to the greenwood side?
The elf-knight asks if Lady Isabel will accompany him to the forest
If you will not go, I'll cause you to ride
The knight will force her to go if she refuses
He leapt on his horse and she on another
The knight and Lady Isabel mount their horses
And they rode on to the greenwood together
The two ride together into the forest
Light down, light down, Isabel' said he
He tells her to dismount her horse
For we're come to the place where you are to die'
He reveals that she has arrived at the location where she will be killed
It's seven kings daughters, here have I slain'
The elf-knight boasts of having killed seven princesses
And you shall be the eighth of them'
The knight intends to kill Lady Isabel, making her the eighth victim
Sit down a-while, lay your head on my knee
He instructs her to sit and rest, placing her head on his lap
That we may rest before I die'
He suggests that they rest before he meets his end
She stroked him so fast the nearer he did creep
Lady Isabel quickly touches the knight as he approaches her
And with a small charm, she's lulled him to sleep
Using a spell, she puts the elf-knight to sleep
With his own sword-belt, so fast she's bound him
Lady Isabel ties up the sleeping knight with his own sword-belt
With his own dagger so sore she's stabbed him
She uses his own dagger to fatally wound him
Then lie you here, a husband to them all'
She pronounces him as the husband of all the slain princesses
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA/AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Des Allen
Steeleye's line-up has continually evolved and that has broadened their range. To be applauded. Only one constant, the incomparable Maddy Prior. I'm 73 and Maddy is two years older. Hope I go first. Can't imagine Steeleye without Maddy. I love her voice and her joie de vivre on stage.
Bjørn Sverre Kristensen
This is great! Form, content, all! Gay Woods' voice is unique, especially in the high registers. Why on earth did she leave the group?
Smiffy83
She was pushed out, despite being a founder member of the group 😢
Bob gallagher
This is epic. The singing , especially Gay Woods, reaches for the divine, gets there and leaves you shaking. Wow!
Jimmy Malone
Ceart. Guth binn aici
Jimmy Malone
Still shaking boss as paul newman said
Jimmy Malone
Her maiden name corcoran.i know gay well. Grew up with her
Bob gallagher
Pa Gall I'm from the Whitechapel Road, Bethnal Green and now live in th South of France, but my grandfathre was from Mallow, County Cork, hence the fixation with Gay Woods...
Russ Jones
I saw them once, in the Ten Man Mop days, and then again right after Now We Are Six. Some of the best concerts I’ve ever been to.
Kei Lei
The are several very fine performers who do justice to this song. But Steeleye Span is my favorite performer. Something about the musical instruments and their beautiful voices as they tell the story just puts me right there in the song. Thank you Steeleye Span.