Bert Jansch

 

I don’t know the names of the people who sewed my clothes, made my carpets or designed and made my furniture. I make my tea not knowing who made my life so much better by designing a kettle with a flip lid or who enhanced my enjoyment by choosing that particular blend of tea. They are nameless and legion. Perhaps every item should have a tag on it. this was made by … and brought to you by… and then a whole list of people could be applauded for their vision and skill.

But music is different. There is a tag on every song to say who it was written by… and then there is always a singer’s name.

So we more easily moan the loss of the singer-songwriter than we do the person who designed the kettle.

So with apologises to the anonymous kettle makers who find themselves entering the pearly gates I want to pay tribute to the singer songwriter by your side whose name I do know: Bert Jansch.

I never saw him play. I was not a huge fan, but I have enjoyed so much of his music over the years. His guitar playing skills made acoustic songs hauntingly beautiful.

Sadly this troubadour, who bound the present day to the tender music of yesteryear, has passed on by; and England’s lost and ruined castles are draughtier and silent now.

 

 

 

My young love said to me,

My mother won't mind

And my father won't slight you

For your lack of kind.

And she laid her hand on me

And this she did say:

It will not be long, love,

Till our wedding day.

As she stepped away from me

And she moved through the fair

And fondly I watched her

Move here and move there.

And then she turned homeward,

With one star awake,

Like the swan in the evening

Moves over the lake.

The people were saying,

No two e'er were wed

But one had a sorrow

That never was said.

And I smiled as she passed

With her goods and her gear,

And that was the last

That I saw of my dear.

Last night she came to me,

My dead love came in.

So softly she came

That her feet made no din.

As she laid her hand on me,

And this she did say:

It will not be long, love,

'Til our wedding day.