Ha'nacker Mill is a lament for what was, in Belloc's time, a fast disappearing way of life. He was writing in a fine English tradition. Namely, the 'rural lament' of which Goldsmith was the finest exponent. This is a recording of Belloc singing it. Peter Warlock also set it to music (not entirely successfully in my view). Latterly, the old mill has been restored: a proud relic of a bygone era.
Ha'nacker Mill
Sally is gone that was so kindly,
Sally is gone from Ha'nacker Hill
And the Briar grows ever since then so blindly;
And ever since then the clapper is still...
And the sweeps have fallen from Ha'nacker Mill.
Ha'nacker Hill is in Desolation:
Ruin a-top and a field unploughed.
And Spirits that call on a fallen nation,
Spirits that loved her calling aloud,
Spirits abroad in a windy cloud.
Spirits that call and no one answers --
Ha'nacker's down and England's done.
Wind and Thistle for pipe and dancers,
And never a ploughman under the Sun:
Never a ploughman. Never a one.
Peter Warlock's composition for Ha'nacker Mill
Sally is gone from Ha'nacker Hill
And the Briar grows ever since then so blindly;
And ever since then the clapper is still...
And the sweeps have fallen from Ha'nacker Mill.
Ha'nacker Hill is in Desolation:
Ruin a-top and a field unploughed.
And Spirits that call on a fallen nation,
Spirits that loved her calling aloud,
Spirits abroad in a windy cloud.
Spirits that call and no one answers --
Ha'nacker's down and England's done.
Wind and Thistle for pipe and dancers,
And never a ploughman under the Sun:
Never a ploughman. Never a one.
there is a much finer setting by IVOR GURNEY: a very moving song. Recorded by Ben Luxon on CHANDOS label
ReplyDeleteI agree about the Benjamin Luxon recording. The album of Butterworth and Gurney songs is an absolute delight, for me expressing Englishness in landscape, nature and poetry in a world that is all but lost now.
ReplyDeleteThe Ivor Gurney setting is a fine piece, but I prefer the Peter Warlock myself, and best of all in my opinion is the one by John Jeffreys sung by Ian Partridge from the album 'Northumberland and beyond'.
ReplyDelete