Name: Whitethorn
Duration: P00H05M00S
Description: Originally written for Rachel Unthank & The Winterset’s 2007 album The Bairns, based on the true story of Belinda’s Irish great grandmother who was pregnant 17 times. The babies who were stillborn were not allowed a Catholic burial, so were buried beneath the whitethorn at the bottom of the field.

Whitethorn

from WinterFolk by O'Hooley & Tidow

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about

Originally written for Rachel Unthank & The Winterset’s 2007 album The Bairns, based on the true story of Belinda’s Irish great grandmother who was pregnant 17 times. The babies who were stillborn were not allowed a Catholic burial, so were buried beneath the whitethorn at the bottom of the field.

lyrics

I carried my love from the spring to the winter
I carried her ’til I heard her first cry
I cradled her close, against my warm bosom
But Annie died on the night she was born

Whitethorn, my children you hold
Whitethorn, cradle and grave
Headstone, berries in winter
Sorrow, your thorns from my blood

So fertile are we under this dark sky
Barren the fields, raped of their stock
Pregnant the cure for all my ambition
A condition it seems more often than not

Each day brings less food to the table
Each passing year, there’s more mouths to feed
Annie was spared the hunger of childhood
Relief, like cold water, mixed with my grief

Whitethorn, bring me my children
Whitethorn, to cradle at last
Berries, red are the bruises
Whitethorn, the night will turn black

credits

from WinterFolk, released December 4, 2020
O'Hooley

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about

O'Hooley & Tidow Huddersfield, UK

ENGLAND'S ANSWER TO THE MCGARRIGLES

* * * * *
GUARDIAN

shows

Aug 27

Glaramara Hotel

Keswick, UK

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