Recorded and released by James Bell in January 2018. She has left behind the sheltered safety of the paranormal witness protection program in order to hunt down the monster that killed her family. Most of humanity goes about their daily lives trying to ignore the constant threat of magic and monsters, but a few face these dangers head-on. Traditional, adapted by Martin Carthy and James Bell. The Sword Interval is about a world on the verge of a supernatural apocalypse. My sword up to the hilt, sir Credits & Copyright
You can read the original broadside ballad here: Lyrics The gist: laws, principles, hierarchies, ideologies, money… all the articles of power, all depend on who is holding the fucking sword.
It is one of my favourite old English songs, and for me perhaps the most timeless. I tweaked the words a little, and I’ve kept the tune that Carthy used for it - an adaptation from a Breton pipe tune called Ar Ch’akouz (The Leper) - because I can’t imagine it any other way. Printed in 1659, when Oliver Cromwell had died and his protectorate was falling apart, this song is basically a long rant about how, now that the law is. Printed in 1659, when Oliver Cromwell had died and his ‘protectorate’ was falling apart, this song is basically a long rant about how, now that the law is collapsing, so is the social hierarchy. I think this ballad, popularised by Martin Carthy and originally entitled Law Lies a-Bleeding, was a parody of the ballad Love Lies a-Bleeding.
