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.
Gower Wassail
Steeleye Span Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Our cup it is white and our ale it is brown
Our wassail is made of the good ale and cake
Some nutmeg and ginger, the best we could bake
Chorus
Fol dedol dol dedol Dol dedol dol de dol
Fol de de ro Fol de da ri
Sing too ra li o
And so my good neighbors we'll drink unto thou
Besides all on earth, you have apples in store
Pray let us come in for it's cold by the door
Chorus
We hope that your apple trees prosper and bear
So that we may have cider when we call next year
And where you have one barrel we hope you'll have ten
So that we may have cider when we call again
Chorus
There's a master and a mistress sitting down by the fire
While we poor wassail boys stand here in the mire
Come you pretty maid with your silver headed pin
Pray open the door and let us come in
Chorus
It's we poor wassail boys so weary and cold
Please drop some small silver into our bowl
And if we survive for another new year
Perhaps we may call and see who does live here
Chorus
We know by the moon that we are not too soon
And we know by the sky that we are not too high
And we know by the star that we are not too far
And we know by the ground that we are within sound
Chorus
The lyrics to Steeleye Span's "Gower Wassail" take us back in time to the medieval practice of wassailing, which involved going door to door wishing health and prosperity to neighbors in exchange for food, drink or money. The first verse sets the tone for the rest of the song, with the singers boasting about the quality of their ale and wassail (a spiced ale or cider), made with the best ingredients they could find, including nutmeg and ginger. The chorus follows, with an upbeat tune that invites the audience to sing along.
The second verse shifts the focus to the elderberry bough, which was commonly used to make wassail in many parts of England. The singers wish their neighbors well and hope for a prosperous apple harvest, which they can use to make cider for their next visit. In the third verse, the singers appeal to the generosity of the master and mistress of the house, asking for entry into their home and for a small donation of silver to help them through the cold winter months. The last verse speaks of the singers' confidence that they have arrived at the right time and place, as indicated by the moon, stars, sky, and ground.
Overall, "Gower Wassail" is a cheerful, lighthearted song that celebrates the joys of community, hospitality, and generosity. The wassailers are a symbol of the medieval festival spirit and remind us that even in difficult times, we can find solace and camaraderie in the company of others.
Line by Line Meaning
A-wassail, a-wassail throughout all the town
Let us toast and celebrate throughout the whole town
Our cup it is white and our ale it is brown
We have some delicious ale in white cups
Our wassail is made of the good ale and cake
Our wassail is prepared with ale and cake - the best we could make
Some nutmeg and ginger, the best we could bake
We have used the finest nutmeg and ginger to bake our wassail
Chorus
Repeated chorus
Our wassail is made of the elderberry bough
We've made our wassail by the elderberry bough
And so my good neighbors we'll drink unto thou
Let us drink to our neighbors
Besides all on earth, you have apples in store
We see that you have a lot of apples in your house
Pray let us come in for it's cold by the door
As it's too cold outside, could you let us come in?
Chorus
Repeated chorus
We hope that your apple trees prosper and bear
We wish that your apple trees bear fruits, as it will help us make cider next year
So that we may have cider when we call next year
As we plan to come next year as well, we hope that you have enough cider to share with us
And where you have one barrel we hope you'll have ten
We hope that you will have more barrels of cider for us to enjoy
So that we may have cider when we call again
We want to make sure that we have enough cider when we come back next time
Chorus
Repeated chorus
There's a master and a mistress sitting down by the fire
We see the owners of the house sitting by the warm fire
While we poor wassail boys stand here in the mire
As we stand here in the mud, we are known as poor wassail boys
Come you pretty maid with your silver headed pin
Could you please open the door, pretty maid with a silver pin?
Pray open the door and let us come in
We request you to kindly open the door and let us in
Chorus
Repeated chorus
It's we poor wassail boys so weary and cold
As poor wassail boys, we are tired and cold
Please drop some small silver into our bowl
Could you please put some small coins in our bowl?
And if we survive for another new year
If we live to see the next year
Perhaps we may call and see who does live here
We'll come back again and meet the people who live here
Chorus
Repeated chorus
We know by the moon that we are not too soon
We know by the moon that we are not too early
And we know by the sky that we are not too high
We know by the sky that we are not too high up
And we know by the star that we are not too far
We know by the star that we are not too far away
And we know by the ground that we are within sound
We know by the ground that we are close enough to be heard
Chorus
Repeated chorus
Contributed by Nolan Y. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Ben - Moderator
on Bonny Moorhen
Hi Stuart, We have corrected the description above.
Stuart Tartan
on Bonny Moorhen
This description of the song completely misses the point in every way. It IS NOT about a bird.
It is an allegorical Jacobite-era song about Bonny Prince Charlie (the bonny moorhen). The colours mentioned, for instance, are the colours of the Clan Stuart tartan.