Diddle
Diddle, or the Kind Country Lovers;
The Fair Maid of Islington; Green Stockings;
The Jovial Lass, or Dol and Roger; Mundanga
Was; Lady of Pleasure; The Old Wife;
The Beehive; Blue Petticoats, or Green
Garters; The Gelding of the Devil; The
Maid's Complaint For Want of a Dil Doul;
Oyster Nan; The Frolic; The Husband
Who Met His Match; The Jovial Broom
Man; The Disappointment; The Lusty Young
Smith; Greensleeves and Yellow Lace;
The Jolly Brown Turd; Two Rounds: Tom
Making a Manteau; When Celia Was Learning;
Lady Lie Near Me; Oh How You Protest;
A Delightful Ditty of Mother Watkin's
Ale; Miss Nelly
With a cover depicting
an olde English feast entitled 'Before
the Orgy' one quickly realises that
this is a disc containing something
out of the ordinary. It was originally
issued under the Musica Oscura label
in which form it gained three stars
in the Penguin Guide.
The City Waites are
gifted musicians who competently perform
on a myriad of authentic 17th
century instruments. This provides a
wide variety of timbre and thus prevents
monotony to help us enjoy these lively
songs that might once have reflected
the spirit of England in their accustomed
setting.
The songs come from
many sources, Samuel Pepys left a collection
of 1700 broadside ballads, and Robert
Harley another, which was later enlarged
by John Kerr. Thomas Durfey, favourite
of Charles II, published six volumes
of such scurrilous songs so there is
no shortage of material. Where the traditional
accompaniment does not survive, the
group have imaginatively found highly
appropriate music to fit the pieces.
Some of the songs portray a light-hearted
mockery of uneducated country folk,
their naivety and innocence:-
Sissy had got a cold I suppose,
And 'twixt her fingers was blowing
her nose;
Harry, that linnen too wanted I
doubt,
Lent her his glove to serve as a
clout;
Scraping low,
Manner to show,
And tell her how much he was her
adorer;
Pray mark the lobe,
Leather thong broke,
And breeches fell down to his ankles
before her.
The good diction of
the City Waites allows us, with particular
clarity, to soak up the amusing lyrics
inferring mucky thoughts in the most
elegant of settings. Following the lyrics
in the CD booklet helps concentration
yet is not mandatory since the dialect
styles are readily understood. The portrayal
of the early singers, whose occupation
was to entertain in the prostitute-ridden
theatres and grimy streets of Indigo
Jones's England, certainly colours our
imagination. Some of the songs are sung
without accompaniment and this nicely
provides contrast.
Detailed notes give
us interesting background to the genre.
This could provide an unusual present
for collectors with broad and unusual
tastes.
Raymond Walker
The City Waites singers and musicians: Lucie Skeaping,
soprano; baroque violin; Douglas Wooton, tenor;
lute, bandora, cittern, tabor; Roddy Skeaping;
baroque violin, bass viol, voice; Michael Brain;
baroque bassoon, recorders, voice; Robin Jeffrey;
baroque guitar, cittern; Mike Sargeant; Northumbrian
bagpipes, Flemish bagpipes; David Chatterley;
hurdy-gurdy 