Souling Song
For centuries, this begging song has been heard in the streets of Cheshire
on All Saints Day. The Souling ritual is the origin of "trick or
treating." Soul cakes are served to the children in the audience
after the performance.
Preparing for the harvest...
We Plow the Fields and Scatter. A new arrangement of this traditional hymn by George Emlen.
The Jolly Ploughboys. An English folk song often heard at Harvest Home celebrations.
Bean Setting. A stick dance from Headington, England associated with the harvest season.
Sowing...
Le Semeur (The Sower). A traditional Breton folk song.
Oats and Beans and Barley Grow. Traditional children's song from Shropshire.
Jolly Is the Miller Boy. A traditional American folk song.
Irish Harvest Blessing
Mowing and reaping...
Harvest Hymn. A shape note hymn from Jeremiah Ingalls' collection, The Christian Harmony, 1805.
One Man Shall Mow My Meadow. An English cumulative song often heard at Harvest Home suppers.
Giving thanks. Poem by Paul Lawrence Dunbar.
Learned of Angel. A wordless Shaker song transcribed from a manuscript at Sabbathday Lake, Maine by Joel Cohen.
I Will Bow and Be Simple. A Shaker song with choreography by Carol Langstaff.
Celebrating...
Circassian Circle Dance. The tune is "Soldier's Joy."
John Barleycorn. An English ballad from Bedfordshire based on an ancient agricultural myth (the making of ale).
American epitaphs (from New England graveyards)
Old Roger. A traditional children's game from Somerset.
Under This Stone. A round by English composer Henry Purcell.
The Haunted House. An Appalachian folk tale.
Skin and Bones. As sung by Kentucky folk singer, Jean Ritchie.
Old Abram Brown. A round by Benjamin Britten.
Hey Ho, to the Greenwood. A 17th-century round attributed to English composer William Byrd.
The Merry Horn. An anonymous hunting song typical of those popular in 18th-century England.
Calon Lan. This famous Welsh hymn celebrates the "shining heart" of hoped-for virtue.
