INNOCENT HARE – The Windings Of Their Wandering Song (Leporidae 001)

It was back in 1991 that Vikki Clayton released Midsummer Cushion, an album of settings of poems by John Clare. Oddly, Clare never really found favour with the folk community despite his living what can only be described as a colourful life, dying in an asylum in 1864. However, what goes around comes around and now we have The Windings Of Their Wandering Song, the title coming from Clare’s poem ‘Wild Bees’. The album takes Clare’s prowess on the fiddle as its starting point and includes tunes from Clare’s own manuscripts.

Innocent Hare are a family trio based in Milton Keynes: Chloe Middleton-Metcalfe, her father Andrew Metcalfe and her husband Jake Middleton-Metcalfe. Their lead instruments are fiddle and concertina with Chloe adding harp and recorder and Andrew playing guitar. I suppose that there is a nineteenth century feel about the music, although perhaps more Charles Dickens than Jane Austen, and there isn’t really a typical track.

The album opens with ‘England’s Glory’ over which Jake reads the January section of ‘The Shepherd’s Calendar’ and follows that with ‘La Bel Jean’ by a seventeenth century virtuoso violin player. Next comes the first of the songs, untitled in Clare’s M/S but here named ‘Robin Hood Rescuing Three Squires’. I have to say that I find the production rather lacking here – compare it with the exuberance of the instrumental tracks – with Chloe’s voice rather muffled in the mix.

Now we come to the real meat the album, beginning with ‘Clare’s Hornpipes’, ‘Clare’s Bugle’, ‘Clare’s Maggot’ and ‘Clare’s Fancy’. In the midst of these comes ‘Young Viola’, described as a “gruesome ballad” but, again, the mix leaves Chloe’s vocals rather indistinct. There is a tune from Handel (‘March In Scipio’), ‘Legalaw’, a song of Irish origin and two more sets from Clare’s manuscripts – a set of slip jigs and ‘Clare’s Delight’ which includes both ’The Devil Among The Tailors’ and ‘Speed The Plough’.

The Windings Of Their Wandering Song isn’t perfect but there are some banging tunes here – in one of my previous lives I would have enjoyed calling to them – and inventive and original arrangements. Well worth a wander in its direction.

Dai Jeffries

Artists’ website: https://www.facebook.com/InnocentHareBand/

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