Show of Hands Took the Long Way Home Quiz

Answer: Saxon

In the song Breme is a Saxon farmer serving in the army of Harold Godwinson at the battles of Stamford Bridge and Hastings. There is a historical basis for this. The name is recorded alongside that of the Saxon nobles who fell at Hastings, but it may not have been the true name of the man. Whoever he was he was a freeman from what is now the village of Dagworth, Suffolk.
A few lines in Latin are sung in "The Old Lych Way", another song on this album.

Answer: Honour the dead

The chorus starts, "Go light the lantern at your door. And honour those who have gone before". Since "gone before" is a common euphemism for having died, the meaning is clear. This song is one of two on this album written by singer/songwriter Chris Hoban. Chris also plays accordion on this track and several others.

Answer: Horologist

Songs in the folk world are about often about the older trades such as blacksmiths and those connected with farming. This song although modern is about a crucial skill in nautical history, clock making. John Harrison was noted for his advances in making clocks that were not affected by the motions of ships while at sea, thus enabling more accurate measurement of longitude.

Answer: Rambleaway

The song here has been combined from lyrics of at least three traditional versions. Rambleaway is one of these, Brimbledown Fair is another. The main story concerns a young handsome visitor to town who girls are attracted to, even when they know his reputation for loving them and leaving them. The pop song "The Wanderer" appears to tell the same sort of story.
"Reynardine" is another song along these lines, where the seducer takes his name from the French word for fox; in some versions he is a were-fox.

"Sweet William" is another frequent name in traditional songs but is not related to this ballad, whilst "The Folker" is an album by singer-songwriter Fred Wedlock.

Answer: Lonely side of town

The song starts, "I'm glad that you would meet me in this lonely side of town", the remainder of the song follows the theme of regaining an original love.
Of the other options, "The Old Lych Way" is the title of another song on this album. the "Dark End of the Street" is a song covered by many artists including, from the folk world, Richard & Linda Thompson, and June Tabor & the Oyster Band. The "back room of the pub" is simply a reference to a traditional setting for folk clubs to meet.

Answer: Love

Another way of describing the theme of this song could be "don't give up hope". The first line of it is "When love just seems so far away".
The song was written by Andrew Cadie, one of a pair of Englishmen based in Germany who form the group Broom Bezums.
For those at sea, both harbour and safety can reasonably be seen as far away. Ushant is a French island which along with the Scilly islands can be used to roughly mark the western end of the English Channel. Both of these places are found in the shanty "Spanish Ladies" which informs us that "From Ushant to Scilly is thirty-five leagues".

Answer: 40 days and nights

Any of these might fit the song but the relevant lyrics are "Forty days and forty nights I'm waiting for your light red to glow".
The song is a simple 12 bar blues, described in the lyrics booklet as "Genuine, Westcountry, frontier gibberish". A song from the earlier days of Show of Hand's performing life.

Answer: Lovely Nancy

Even more the birds go on to sing "for love it is our fancy". The song warns Nancy that young men are not to be trusted in matters of love. As a traditional song it seems to be well known in folk circles. The records of folk song collectors seem to indicate it comes from the west of England but now is sung around the country.
The birds are clearly not like my local ones, the sparrows here are very vocal with their calls for more seed when they feel I haven't been paying enough attention to topping up the bird feeders.

Answer: When the sun goes down

We don't even need to consider the lyrics to find the answer as the full title of the track is "Walk With Me (When the Sun Goes Down)". This is a song about writing a song. The lyrics start with a couplet about wanting to bring a brand-new story and a brand-new song.

By the time we get to the second verse we have a litany of things the singer didn't want to write or sing about. Several of these hark back to songs Show of Hands have previously written. Such as "country life" referring to the song of the same name and "greedy bankers" which relates to the song "Arrogance, Ignorance and Greed".

Answer: Dartmoor

A "lych way" in general is a track leading to a burial ground. Back in history when there were fewer churches which were permitted to have burials, they often had responsibility for large rural areas. The remote farms and hamlets of Dartmoor might be many miles from the nearest burial ground. The term lych is still used in the phrase "lych gate", which indicates the route the coffin took (and may still take) when entering a churchyard.
Back to the song, it specifies that the corpse is being taken from Bellever to Lydford. These are towns in Dartmoor which is in Devon, making the distance to carry a coffin over 12 miles. Other references placing the song in the area of Dartmoor are the river Dart and Conies Down. But if you also knew Show of Hands are based in the English West Country and you realised that Dartmoor was the only option listed in the general area then you might have been able to work it out without knowing the song.
Or you might have read the information in the lyrics booklet that informs the reader that this song is about places on Dartmoor.
The "Lych Way" to which the song refers is a real trackway which was used as such and can still be walked.