A Soggy Ship Trivia Quiz

Answer: The Proud Tailor

The tailor in this song does ride away to the war, but his war is with a fly. He makes a spear out of a needle and a funeral bell out of a thimble as part of this escapade. The song comes from that large group of songs known as "trad" and is several centuries old.

Some sources claim this is a political satire but no details of what it refers to seem to be known. Other sources claim it is related to the song "The Tailor and the Louse", still others that "tailor" is a corruption of another word or words. So, the true answer is no-one really knows.

Answer: The sun

The song, which is written by Kate Rusby, is a love song. The moon seeing the beautiful sun rising each morning, then passing through the day before setting in the evening. To give an example of the lyrics:

"At dawn she is delicate,
And burning by noon,
The end of the day will come soon."

The answer does explicitly appear in the lyrics as well, "For she's the sun, I'm only the moon" appears towards the end of the song.

Answer: Centaur

The story starts with a knight seeking the witch of the title. Eventually he comes to a pool of water.

"And wet rose she from the lake, and fast and flee went she,
And half the form of a maiden fair, with a jet-black mare's body"

It doesn't say she looked like a centaur, but the body of a horse with the top half of a human can only match one of the options given.

The song was written by Archie Fisher and the original has a lot of Scottish or Cumbrian dialect. Some subsequent recordings, notably that of Stan Rogers, modernise the language in some places. This updating of the language is the case with the recording on this album as well.

Answer: Yorkshire Tea

Big Brave Bill from Barnsley, well it has to be Yorkshire tea. As the chorus goes:

"Big Brave Bill, from Barnsley he came
Big Brave Bill, from the mine
Big Brave Bill, we'll remember his name
The hero who drinks Yorkshire Tea all the time"

The song details some of the people he has saved from disaster. For instance, when Mrs Dobbins took a holiday to Majorca and had a distressing experience.
"Was served a cup of warm water, tea bag on the side
UHT milk, oh she broke down and cried
But here's Bill, Bill he's with kettle and proud"

Like Big Brave Bill, Kate Rusby, comes from Barnsley. She isn't big though. Maybe Bill is her alter ego.

Answer: Thirty sheep

As the song opening lines have it:

"O young Janie, fair by feature She would never a bargain miss
Thirty sheep for just one kiss"

But she rather enjoys it with the fellow, for a little later prepared to offer thirty kisses for just one sheep. By the end she is willing to surrender thirty sheep for just one kiss.

Ardent maybe, possibly a little over eager. The refrain does say:
"Oh Janie, sweet Janie
Please be patient and don't be keen"
But Janie doesn't seem to able to follow that advice.

Answer: Ancient

This song is one of Kate Rusby's own compositions. It was inspired by the migration crisis across the Mediterranean in the 2010s. Many desperate people took to boats not fit for the purpose to cross into Europe.

The lyric providing the answer is: "An ancient land I've left behind, in ruins now lies she". The song itself is about a woman and child making the journey across in a boat, the "paper boat" of the title.

The song ends with the woman wondering if they will make it to the other side.

"The orange sun was burning on the boat where we all stand
And hope it blowed eternal there upon the promised land
Will it whither now or will I feel my feet upon the sand?"

Another song drawing its inspiration from the same humanitarian crisis is Cara Dillon's song "Lakeside Swans" on the album "Wanderer".

Answer: Nature

A song that describes living wild and free. No ties, possessions or responsibilities. The opening verse describes this:

"I was not born a queen or king, I have no house nor anything.
In comfort, none can equal me, and what they all would die to be."

The rest of the lyrics follow this theme, including the answer to the question:
"While evil games the greedy play. It's only nature I obey"

It puts me in mind of the Richard Thompson song "Beeswing" which describes a similarly flighty person.

Answer: Mermaids

The mermaid is traditionally seen as a bad omen for a ship. One possibility is because what was actually sighted were creatures such as seals, resting on sandbanks and the ships found out the hard way that shoals of sand and the bottom of ships are not a good combination.

Here the sailor has seen what fate has in store for him; "I can see love, the mermaid and she knows"

The opening lines, repeated towards the end of the song give the answer.
"Farewell the rolling hills
And farewell to the fields
Farewell love, my fate tonight is sealed
On the sea love, on the sea"

Another example of a song where the mermaid is the sign of a ship's impending wreck is on the album "Sole Mates" recorded by "Fisherman's Friends", which shares the title "The Mermaid".

Answer: If I had a hundred ears

The last verse to this song runs:

If we had a hundred years
You could keep your hand on mine
If we had a hundred years
Like trees in a garden we'll stand entwined

The entire song expresses the same theme of ever-lasting love. The words are apparently traditional but I have not been able to identify the source. The tune is from the creative skills of Kate Rusby.

Answer: Lord Nelson

Pace Egging is similar to Wassailing or carol singing but at Easter instead of Christmas. The pace eggers sing songs and expect something in return. The lines in the middle of the first verse make this clear: "We have come a pace egging and I hope you prove kind. And I hope you prove kind with your eggs and strong beer."

Each of the next four verses then introduces one of the characters listed. In this version the first of these to appear is Nelson. The verse starting:
"The next that comes in it's Lord Nelson you'll see
With a bunch of blue ribbons tied down to his knee."

In this context it appears the word "pace" is derived from the Latin word for Easter, "Pascha". This word is still found in Christian Churches in reference to the Paschal Candle, which is lit at Easter.

Pace Egging songs originally formed part of the Pace Egg plays. These appear to be in the same traditions as Medieval Mystery plays or Mummers plays.