Being of the old git persuasion, I’m familiar with a majority of the songs on Bold Champions. Does that spoil my enjoyment of the record. Certainly not! Jamie Roberts, Rosie Hood and Matt Quinn transport me back to my misspent youth with three voices, guitar and concertina – proper, traditional folk music.
The Dovetail Trio begin with sex in the shape of ‘The Light Dragoon’ (or ‘The Maid And The Trooper’ if you prefer), a sprightly tale of consensual fornication and no harm done – not that my misspent youth was anything like that. ‘Black Eyed Susan’ is the one song that is old but not strictly traditional. It’s the familiar story of a young woman who goes to sea in search her young lover, perhaps superior for being a poem by John Gay with period-appropriate music.
‘The Bold Keeper’ tells of the clash of class and wealth in which true love wins out and all turns out well for no adequately explained reason. I get the feeling that some verses were edited out so we could get on with the action. ‘A Broadside’ is another story of a cross-dressing young woman who goes to sea to be with her sweetheart and ends up as captain of the ship. There seems to be an excess of optimism and good fortune present here, except…
‘Death & The Lady’ needs no explanation except to comment on Rosie’s sublime vocal performance. I’ve only heard one other version of the title track. Conventional wisdom has it collected by Cecil Sharp but The Dovetail Trio credit it to Alfred Williams. Their take on the story of a prize fight is remarkably upbeat – except that both combatants die at the end. Hm! ‘The Flower Of London’ continues with the murder of a young woman by her father and ‘The Wreck Of The Northfleet’ tells of what is now euphemistically called “a mass casualty event”. Things cheer up with ‘Claudy Banks’, although I still don’t understand why she doesn’t give him a good handbagging.
‘Two Sisters’ is a jolly version which in parts reminds me of something that Roger Watson brought out of a children’s workshop but it’s still a story of murder and retribution. ‘The Old Churchyard’ is an American funeral hymn bringing Bold to an appropriately sombre conclusion. Except…
The bonus track is a live version of the silliest song in the tradition, ‘Four & Twenty Fiddlers’, which I first heard in Devon about fifty years ago. The trio seem to have put together every verse known to man and it does make for a fun ending. This is an absolutely splendid album – fine singing and playing and an intriguing selection of songs.
Dai Jeffries
Artists’ website: www.dovetailtrio.com
‘Bold Champions’ – live:
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