Singers at the Youth Traditional Song conference. Photo by Lorelei Erisis.
Photo by Lorelei Erisis
Country Dance & Song Society > Publications > Listen > Song of the Month

Song of the Month

Join us each month in song!

The first “S” in CDSS stands for “song”—specifically the participatory singing that happens at pub sings, song circles, and other community singing events. To celebrate that part of our mission, we offer our volunteer-curated Song of the Month to help broaden your repertoire of traditional (and traditional-inspired) songs. Learn a song each month and share it with your own communities! 

Lorraine Hammond started Song of the Month in 2016, and Judy Cook has been curating its songs since 2017. Thank you Judy and Lorraine! 

Submit a Song of the Month

Have a favorite song that works at pub sings, song circles, and other community singing events? We’d love to share it!

Submit a Song

Note: Many of these old songs should be looked at as “fairy tales for adults” in that they often address very strong, and sometimes scary, subject matter. They allow us to deal with difficult situations and emotions with the distance afforded by putting it in a song. They are cautionary tales, and had their use as such.

This month’s song:

  • Illustration for the song "James Harris:" a winged demon carrying a woman December 2025: James Harris
    Submitted by Tim Edwards

    Also known as “The Demon Lover” or “The House Carpenter,” this ballad is 243 in the Child collection. I first heard it sung by Pentangle about 1970, and the story of the lost love reappearing after the traditional 7 years in demonic form captivated me and led me to learn it a few years later.

    While some versions downplay the supernatural element, it was this that appealed to me. No version worked perfectly for me, so I ended up with a blend of verses from three different versions in Child, set to a tune I wrote. However, I never recorded the tune, and eventually found I’d forgotten it (lesson learned!), so I now sing it to a tune based on one I heard used for a version of “The Unquiet Grave.”

    Listen to Tim’s recording of “James Harris:”

    Sheet music for "James Harris"
    Download the sheet music for “James Harris.”

    Lyrics

    “Where have you been, my long-lost love,
    This seven long years and more?
    I’ve come to seek my former vows
    You granted me before.”

    “O hold your tongue of your former vows,
    For they will breed sad strife.
    O hold your tongue of your former vows
    For I have become a wife.”

    “I might have married a king’s daughter
    Far far across the sea
    But I refused the crown of gold
    And it’s all for the love of thee.”

    “If you might have married a king’s daughter
    Yourself you have to blame
    For I am married to a ship’s carpenter
    And to him I have a son.”

    “But have you any place to put me in
    If I should with you gang
    I’ve seven brave ships upon the sea
    All laden to the brim.

    “And I’ll build my love a bridge of steel
    All for to help her o’er
    Likewise a web of silk by her side
    To keep her from the cold.”

    And as they were walking up the street
    Most beautiful for to behold
    He cast a glamour o’er her face
    That shone like the brightest gold

    “O how do you love the ship?” he said
    “How do you love the sea?
    And how do you love the bold mariners
    That wait upon you and me?”

    “It’s well I love the ship,” she said
    “It’s well I love the sea
    But woe be to the dim mariners
    That nowhere I can see!”

    And they had no sailed a league, a league
    A league but barely one
    When she began to weep and to mourn
    And to think on her poor wee son.

    “O hold your tongue, my dear,” he said
    “And let all your weeping be
    For it’s soon I’ll show you how the lilies grow
    On the banks of Italy.”

    And they had not sailed a league, a league
    A league but barely two
    When she espied a cloven foot
    From his gay robe sticking through.

    And they had not sailed a league, a league
    A league but barely three
    When dark, dark grew his eerie looks
    And raging grew the sea.

    “O what are yon yon pleasant hills
    That the sun shines so sweetly upon?”
    “O yon are the hills of heaven,” he said
    “Where you shall never win.”

    “And whaten mountain is yon,” she cried
    “All dreary with frost and snow?”
    “O yon is the mountain of hell,” he cried
    “Where you and I must go.”

    He stuck the topmast with his hand
    The foremast with his knee
    He broke that gallant ship in twain
    And sank her in the sea.

    Tim Edwards writes: Born and brought up in Hertfordshire, I started singing folk songs in the early 70’s—initially in Greater London, and since the 90’s in Cheshire, as well as around the country at various festivals and clubs. Since lockdown, I have combined ‘live’ singing with online sessions with friends around the world.

    My main interest is unaccompanied traditional song, although I sing a good number of contemporary pieces, including the occasional self-penned one. In particular, I love traditional ballads and lyrical songs.

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