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.
Two Magicians
Steeleye Span Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And he looked in at the window as black as any silk
Chorus
Hello, hello, hello, hello you coal black smith
You have done me no harm
You never shall have my maidenhead
That I have kept so long
Ah, but then she said and be buried all in my grave
Than to have such a nasty, husky, dusky, fusky, musky
Coal black smith
A maiden I will die
Chorus
She became a duck, a duck all on the stream
And he became a water dog and fetched her back again
Chorus
She became a star, a star all in the night
And he became a thundercloud and muffled her out of sight
Chorus
She became a rose, a rose all in the wood
And he became a bumble bee and kissed her where she stood
Chorus
She became a nun, a nun all dressed in white
And he became a canting priest and prayed for her by night
Chorus
She became a trout, a trout all in the brook
And he became a feathered fly and catched her with his hook
Chorus
She became a corpse, a corpse all in the ground
And he became a the cold clay and smothered her all around
Chorus
The lyrics of Steeleye Span's song Two Magicians depict a story of a young maiden and a coal blacksmith. The first verse describes the maiden looking out of the window, her face as pale as milk, while the blacksmith looks in, his face as dark as silk. The chorus then follows as the maiden rejects the blacksmith's advances and vows to remain a virgin for eternity, even if it means dying a maiden.
Throughout the song, the maiden transforms into different entities, including a duck in a stream, a star in the night sky, a rose in a wood, a nun dressed in white, and even a corpse buried in the ground. The blacksmith also transforms into various forms, such as a water dog, a thundercloud, a bumblebee, a canting priest, and a feathered fly. In each case, the blacksmith pursues the maiden, but she ultimately rejects him every time, showing her incredible determination to maintain her maidenhood.
The song's meaning is open to interpretation, but it may represent the importance of preserving one's purity, which was highly valued in traditional societies. Additionally, it could symbolize the struggles that women faced in their efforts to maintain their independence and dignity in a world dominated by men.
Line by Line Meaning
She looked out of the window as white as any milk
She peered out the window, her face a pale as fresh milk.
And he looked in at the window as black as any silk
He gazed in at her through the window, his countenance as dark as the finest silk.
Hello, hello, hello, hello you coal black smith
Hey there, you blacksmith dressed in coal, who symbolizes the lover.
You have done me no harm
You have not caused any damage to me yet.
You never shall have my maidenhead
You will never claim my virginity.
That I have kept so long
That I’ve preserved all this time before this encounter.
I'd rather die a maid
I would prefer to remain chaste.
Ah, but then she said and be buried all in my grave
Even though, she remarks that if death befalls her, she would rather have her remains laying six feet under the ground.
Than to have such a nasty, husky, dusky, fusky, musky
When describing the lover, she portrays him to be disagreeable, ugly, and vile.
Coal black smith
This is a reference to the blacksmith which stands as a symbol for the male lover.
A maiden I will die
She asserts that she will perish as a virgin.
She became a duck, a duck all on the stream
She transforms into a duck and floats on the surface of the water.
And he became a water dog and fetched her back again
He changed into a water dog and brought the duck back to him.
She became a star, a star all in the night
She turns into a celestial body, a radiant star shining in the night sky.
And he became a thundercloud and muffled her out of sight
He transforms into a thundercloud and obscures her from view.
She became a rose, a rose all in the wood
She becomes a beautiful rose growing within the forest.
And he became a bumble bee and kissed her where she stood
He turned into a buzzing bee and bestowed a light and gentle kiss upon the rose as he scurried away.
She became a nun, a nun all dressed in white
She became a devout religious sister, dressed in pure white clothing.
And he became a canting priest and prayed for her by night
He turned into a faux-religious preacher and prayed for her during the darkest hours of the night.
She became a trout, a trout all in the brook
She became one of the many fish swimming in the stream.
And he became a feathered fly and catched her with his hook
He transformed into a feathered insect and caught her with a hook.
She became a corpse, a corpse all in the ground
She finally died and was buried after all of these transformations had taken place.
And he became the cold clay and smothered her all around
The male lover, now personifying the cold, hard earth, covered her burial site with soil.
Chorus
This is the refrain which repeats after each transformation.
Contributed by Jackson C. 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.