Mike and Kate Turnbull also operate under the name Briar:Bramble which can be confusing when both are printed on the album – I chose the name with the largest font size. Between them, Mike and Kate play half a dozen instruments and both sing which provides opportunity for plenty of variety. Mike writes most of the songs and with Folklore he once again explores stories and legends of his native Lake District.
I remember ‘Sir Eglamore’ as a silly nursery rhyme from when I was a boy but there are many related songs about a number of knights in the tradition – ‘Emma’s Fall’ isn’t one of them. Sir Eglamour Of Artois is a 14th century poem that is probably the source of most of them. According to legend, Emma was his fiancée who was prone to sleepwalking around the countryside and when Sir Eglamore returned from the Crusades he discovered her near Aira Force falls. He accidentally woke her (which we all know is not a good thing to do) and, startled, she fell to her death. I tell you all this to illustrate the detail that Mike packs into his songs. Proof of the veracity of the tale can be found in Wordsworth’s poem The Somnambulist and a painting by Thomas Allom about a hermit, identified by Turnbull as Eglamore, who lived below the falls. You might think that Mike has exercised his poetic license but I couldn’t possibly comment.
Despite the sometimes macabre subject matter, Mike writes bouncy tunes with catchy refrains which make the album very enjoyable. So, for example, you can sing along with ‘Bella Sheephead’, the story of a young girl who became a vampire sheep after drinking the blood of her slaughtered pet lamb. As you would! Bella is noted in folklore. Before that is the legend of an old woman who tricked Lucifer in ‘Devil’s Hand’ and I gave up fact-checking at this point.
‘Magpie Gold’ is a rather more modern tale of detectorists and owes a nod to Davey Dodds and then we’re back to legends and lore with ‘The Crier’, the story of a demon who hunted souls around Windermere. ‘Where Fortunes Lie’ tells of Vikings who settled in the north of England and who passed their evenings playing board games. It was probably true and you can buy replicas of their gaming tokens on the internet these days. ‘Salt Upon The Fire’ examines old superstitions and ‘Valiant Knight’ tells of a Scots raid on Brough Castle.
An exception to the legends comes as Mike and Kate rework the old song as ‘Hungry Fox’ and finally comes ‘Black Bess’, an extract from the many exploits of Dick Turpin and probably the least accurate song here.
Forgive me if I’ve taken too jocular a tone in this review. Folklore makes me smile and it does seem that most of the tales are rooted somewhere in history despite their implausibility at times. Mike and Kate perform these songs with skill and gusto. Suspend your incredulity and just enjoy them.
Dai Jeffries
Artists’ website: www.miketurnbullmusic.com
‘Salt Upon The Fire’ – live:
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