This is worth a humerus mention to tickle your funny bone.....
 
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WA-x7CQH8WQ
 
and (possibly) even a better fit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LlI_-ItMQVA

Mesh
This is worth a humerus mention to tickle your funny bone.....
 
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WA-x7CQH8WQ
 
and (possibly) even a better fit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LlI_-ItMQVA

Thanks, just what the doctor ordered.

As today is Bill Nelson's birthday...
 

Little Musgrave by Nic Jones. I forgot about this song but I used to listen to it over and over. It's a 17th century folk ballad set to music by Jones. He is just such an excellent storyteller and put his heart and soul into this track. The lyrics are friggin' awesome. A case of misguided adultery and the inevitable bloody revenge. It goes on a bit but I think of it more of a story than a song. This is folk storytelling at its best. 
 

 
 

Here's another great old folk ballad from Nic Jones. Again the story is wonderful. In case you can't pick it out first time from the lyrics, Wikipedia describes it thus:
 
A blind harp-player resolves to steal King Henry of England's brown horse, in some versions, as a result of a bet for substantial stakes. He tells his wife of his plans and that he needs their good grey mare to achieve them. She agrees, and tells him to leave the foal behind, as the mare will quickly return to her still suckling young. He sets off and, at Carlisle, he meets the king, who asks for a song. The harper replies that he'd rather have a stable for his mare. The king tells his stable boy to house the grey mare next to his own brown horse. Now the harper plays and sings so beautifully that he spellbinds his audience and they all fall asleep. He tiptoes out of the room, makes his way to the stable, tethers the two horses together and releases them. The good grey mare makes her way back home taking the stolen brown horse with her. When the morning comes, the harper falsely mourns the loss of his horse, saying that, as a result, her foal will die. The king tells him not to fret and makes good the harper's losses by paying him for the foal and three times the worth of the good grey mare. Thus the harper not only wins his bet but also gets handsomely remunerated for the animals that he never lost.
 
The tune is fantastic in this one. There's also a couple of nice tunes tacked onto the end. 
 

 

sharke
Little Musgrave by Nic Jones. I forgot about this song but I used to listen to it over and over. It's a 17th century folk ballad set to music by Jones. He is just such an excellent storyteller and put his heart and soul into this track. The lyrics are friggin' awesome. A case of misguided adultery and the inevitable bloody revenge. It goes on a bit but I think of it more of a story than a song. This is folk storytelling at its best. 

There few versions of this story including Matty Groves. I had not heard this version before, thanks for posting its one of the best, I think it’s is the one Planxty covered, they certainly used Jones’s melody.
 
Martin Simpson, reflecting on the inevitability of the unfolding tragedy in the “great ballads” offered an alternative modern take
 
I dare not for my lands lady
I dare not for my life
For the ring on your right finger shows you are Lord Barnard’s Wife
And in any case I am gay.

sharke
Here's another great old folk ballad from Nic Jones.

More great stuff!

Think of Planxyy led me here
[tube]http://youtu.be/4vQvr3iiZOY[/tube]
I like Andy Irvine's Portugese Guitar and Liam O'Flynn's piping is brilliant. Three Drunken Maidens was also covered by Fairport Convention.
 
Here is Planxty version of Little Musgrave. Jones's tune but different words.
[tube]http://youtu.be/p0-gcccksAg[/tube]
 
 Edit - Why can't I get the [tube] finggy to work???
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Another familiar tale given the Planxty treatment.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5hZ5c9xPe5M

Christy Moore is great. He has the perfect voice for this sort of stuff. 
 
Nic Jones said that he based his tune for Little Musgrave on Little Matty Groves. 
 
I love these long drawn out folk ballads. I never mind the melodic repetition because the lyrics are so engrossing. Although sometimes you get a combination of both. Here's Christy Moore again, singing The Pursuit of Farmer Micheal Hayes.  Always gets me excited this one  Beautifully recorded and mixed (dynamics!), the chords in this are top notch and the instrumental pipe breaks send shivers down my spine. Planxty really knew their stuff. 
 

Glyn Barnes
 
 Edit - Why can't I get the [tube] finggy to work???
 

 
Pro tip: remove the 's' from https in the URL. That perplexed me for a while as well!