Cara Dillon Wanders Over the Waters Quiz

Answer: Lough Neagh

A song of an exile, yearning for the lands of home. All the verses end with the same pair of lines;
"Where Bann and black water
Sweep down to Lough Neagh"

Lough Neagh is in Northern Ireland and is the largest lake in the UK. The two principal rivers flowing in are the Rivers Bann and Blackwater.
Although the song is listed as "trad" sources indicate it might have been written by Nailly Coney of Killygonland in Northern Ireland, from whom the first record of the song comes.

Answer: Seduction

A common theme of folk songs (and other genres), seduction. In this version the man has made many promises to get the woman to sleep with him. In the morning he gets up and leaves her. Mocking her for believing him and telling her to go back home.

The lyrics here are the same as those sung by Sandy Denny on the album "The North Star Grassman and the Ravens".

Some versions of the song include the man telling the woman to produce your witness and then he'll follow through on his promise of marriage. In others the woman gets her murderous revenge later, usually around verse 5.

Answer: Both Sides the Tweed

The reference is to the two side of the river, which in part forms the border between England and Scotland. The song is written by Dick Gaughan, but the original words on which it is based go back to an early nineteenth century book. Possibly written by the book's publisher, James Hogg.

Four of the other tracks on this album have titles containing the names of rivers in Northern Ireland, and all of the other songs at least mention a river or the ocean, forming a thematic link between the songs.

Of the other options, "The Banks of the Nile" is another traditional song. "Fog on the Tyne" was written by Alan Hull of the group Lindisfarne and "Sweet Thames Flow Softly" was written by Ewan MacColl.

Answer: Foyle

This song was written by Cara Dillon and her husband Sam Lakeman. Coincidentally, the only other song they wrote for this album is also about leaving one's homeland.

This song is described in some places as being about emigration, something that Ireland has been associated with for a long time. As well as many traditional ones, here are more recent examples in the folk world. As examples consider Show of Hands' song "Suntrap", Ralph McTell's "The Setting" and several by Eric Bogel, himself an emigrant from Scotland to Australia.

Answer: Derry

Another song of parted lovers, but for a change it is the female of the couple who must leave. The song is of her yearning to return to her beloved in Derry, on the banks of the Foyle.

The penultimate verse gives all of the information required:

"But a wee bird came flying from over the sea
And he brought me a letter from my true love to see
Saying "Come home, my darling, to your native soil
And I'll wed you in lovely Derry on the banks of the Foyle"

Ireland being what it is, with political wrangling over the name of a city being Derry or Londonderry I feel it is right to point out that this song is also sung with the words "lovely Derry" replaced by "Londonderry" throughout. I have settled for the words used in this specific recording.

Answer: She died in grief

A typical example of a maid losing her true love. He is a sailor goes off to sea. The woman goes off to find him, but he has been drowned. In despair she kills herself. Leading to the last verse:

"Oh father, father, dig me a grave
Go dig it long and go dig it wide
Place marble stone at my head and feet
That the world may know that I died in grief"

This is also a good example of how folk songs mutate, not just in their contents but in their titles. The lyrics appear to be similar to those in the version sung by Sandy Denny with the title "A Sailor's Life", the verses match "Willie the Bold Sailor Boy" as sung by Norma Waterson. But the first verse of the version recorded here seems closer to that of "Sweet William" as recorded by Mike Waterson.

These lyrics of these versions are all as found on the "Mainly Norfolk: English Folk and Other Good Music" website. The second verse where the lady asks her father to build her a boat, is common to all of these, and others.

Answer: Bridge of Drumahoe

This is another traditional song which has been arranged by Sam Lakeman and Cara Dillon. The answer is found at the start of the second verse "Well it's about three miles from Derry to the bridge of Drumahoe".

We are continuing with the theme of parting here. In this song, the singer is reminiscing about their homeland, along the River Faughan. However, they are also contemplating emigration, "I have a notion of going to Ameri-cay".

Looking at the map, in Drumahoe there is a bridge over the River Faughan which is about three miles from the centre of Derry. The bus stop adjacent to the bridge is called "Three Miles". From here the River Faughan runs parallel to the River Foyle until it empties into the estuary of the latter, which is also known as Lough Foyle.

Answer: Juno

The song itself is the story of an immigrant to Ireland, "When first to this country a stranger I came", who meets the woman of his dreams. But the relationship is prevented by her parents because he is poor, "Because she is rich and above my degree".

According to the song, "She appeared like great Juno the fair Grecian queen". This is problematic, as Juno was the Roman equivalent of the Greek goddess Hera. Uni was the Etruscan equivalent of these. Freya was either a Norse goddess or an elderly little dog of my acquaintance, (possibly both).

Other versions of this song have a slightly different line, "She appeared like fair Juno or a Grecian queen". The Shirley Collins version goes "like an angel or Egypt's fair queen". Still, this is a song, not a work of historical analysis so it doesn't matter much.

Answer: Some on the mountains

The answer to this (and the source of the song's title) are to be found in the chorus:

"Some swear the valley is their home
Some on the mountains need to roam
But in this narrow place in time
I watch the lakeside swans go by"

The song itself was written by Cara Dillon about the migration crisis of those trying to cross the Mediterranean to Europe in small boats. Another song inspired by this situation is "Life in a Paper Boat" by Kate Rusby.

Answer: Sailing

The song opens with:
"Dhubdara, he's a-sailing
Far out in the blue ocean"

The theme is a woman waiting for her loved one while he is away at sea. Reading between the lines, she must be hoping for his return before the weather changes for the worse.
"And the rainclouds move among the islands
Far down in Clew Bay"

All of the other songs on this album are either traditional and arranged by Cara Dillon and Sam Lakeman or written by them. This song was written by Irish composer Shaun Davey. (OK one song, "Both Sides the Tweed", is traditional poem lyrics, arranged by Dick Gaughan then arranged by Cara and Sam.)

Dubhdara is an Irish name which means translates as "black oak". The Anglicized version is given as Dudley. Dudley is a town in the English black country. So the circle is completed. As a comparison, Dublin, which in Irish is Dubhlinn translates as Black (for dubh) and lake or pool (for linn) thus Dublin is Blackpool and Blackpool in England is on the other side of the Irish Sea from Dublin.
In the north of England and Scotland the term linn is still found in place names, often referring to a waterfall.