# Holy Heathens and the Old Green Man

Holy Heathens and the Old Green Man is a 2006 album by English folk group Waterson:Carthy, also featuring the vocal group The Devil's Interval, released on Topic Records. It is a collection of seasonal songs, most having a Christian flavour ("Diadem" is unique in that it has phrases which suggest that the figure being adored is a Green Man rather than Christ). They have mostly avoided familiar carols, and even where the words as well-known, they have selected unfamiliar tunes. There is more instrumental accompaniment on this collection than on any previous Waterson:Carthy album, notably containting brass arrangements influenced by Martin Carthy's work in the band Brass Monkey.

## Track listing

* "New Year Carol – Residue" (Traditional) (2:57)
    The meaning of the title "Residue" is unknown: the traditional song is titled "Levy-Dew", and this variant may be a mondegreen .
* "Sugar Wassail" (Traditional, Roud 209) (2:12)
    From the collection of Rev. John Broadwood.
* "St George" (John Kirkpatrick) (2:50)
    Kirkpatrick's song is similar to words in the Mummer's Play.
* "May Song" (Traditional, Roud 305) (2:44)
    From Fred Hamer's collection, combining the "Night Song" and the "Day Song" into one.
* "Christ Made a Trance" (Traditional, Roud 2112) (2:32)
    A grim Passiontide vision of Christ's pain.
* "When Jesus Wept The Falling Tear" (W Billings) (2:24)
    Sung as a round. Originally written by William Billings (1746 - 1800, Boston), commonly regarded as the first American choral composer.
* "Cherry Tree Carol" (Traditional, Roud 453, Child 54) (4:20)
    A song for Epiphany.
* "Reaphook and Sickle" (Traditional, Roud 1375) (2:48)
    A song for the end of harvest.
* "Jack Frost" (Mike Waterson) (4:33)
    A description of a frosty scene
* "While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks" (Words: Nahum Tate / Tune: Traditional, Roud 936) (5:17)
    Sung to one of the many traditional tunes found in Yorkshire - this version was collected from the singing of Walter Pardon.
* "On Christmas Day It Happened So" (Traditional, Roud 1078) (2:43)
    From Hamer's "Garners Gay". A ploughman is punished for ploughing on Christmas Day.
* "Time to Remember the Poor" (Words: John Fielding / Tune: H. T. Dyring, Roud 1121) (4:40)
    A poetic plea for charity.
* "Jacobstowe Wassail" (Traditional, Roud 209) (2:50)
    A Wassail song from the Devon village of Jacobstowe, from the Baring-Gould collection.
* "Awake Awake (New Years Carol)" (Traditional, Roud 701) (4:06)
    Not the same song as the one by Steeleye Span.
* "Diadem" (Traditional, Roud 17726) (3:28)
    A song from Yorkshire where Christ is portrayed as a king.
* "Jolly Old Hawk" (Traditional, Roud 1048) (2:51)
    A Somerset carol from The Twelve Days of Christmas family of songs.
* "Gloryland (Baptist hymn)" (Words: Traditional, Tune: Eliza Carthy) (3:40)
    A flowing, soaring description of heaven.

## Personnel

Waterson:Carthy:
* Norma Waterson – vocals, triangle
* Eliza Carthy – vocals, fiddle, mandolin
* Martin Carthy – vocals, guitar
* Tim Van Eyken – vocals, melodeons, brass arrangements
The Devil's Interval:
* Jim Causley – vocals
* Emily Portman – vocals
* Lauren McCormick – vocals
Also with:
* Martin Brinsford – percussion
* Alice Kinloch – trombone and tuba, brass arrangements
* Tom Allan – trumpets, brass arrangements
* Oliver Knight – cello