Forgotten Melodies #13: Death and Afterlife Songs

In this final episode of our 13-part exploration of folk music history we are concluding with Death and Afterlife Songs!

We welcome our musical collaborators for the series Ben and Katie to join us for this bumper-length episode, which includes a conversation at the end in which we reflect on the journey we have been on together over the last 15 months.

As for the songs, we begin with Death and the Lady, a song that feels like it ought to have Medieval roots and which seems inspired by the Black Death, yet which is only recorded for the first time in the 18th century.

Next, we sing and discuss one of the finest English songs of all, The Lyke Wake Dirge, with Martin deploying his shruti box and his snare drum to get the skeleton parade marching along...

Lastly, we go out on a very Ben choice with Fiddler's Green, a song which is the 40th we've recorded together.

We really hope you enjoy the songs, the conversations about death, the afterlife, reincarnation, and more, and remember, every new person who listens to this episode, or who joins our Patreon, enables us to be more ambitious with our projects and push Three Ravens into new and exciting places.

So, thank you very much for listening, we hope to release mastered versions of some of the songs as an album (funds and time willing) and thank you for spreading the word about what we're doing so that this can be how we make our living.

We really hope you enjoy the episode, and we will speak to you again on Thursday for our final stories from the Lang Red Fairy Book, featuring The Marvellous Musician and The Story of Sigurd!

The Three Ravens is a Myth and Folklore podcast hosted by award-winning writers Martin Vaux and Eleanor Conlon.

Released on Mondays, each weekly episode focuses on a historic county, exploring the heritage, folklore and traditions of the area, from ghosts and mermaids to mythical monsters, half-forgotten heroes, bloody legends, and much, much more. Then, and most importantly, the pair take turns to tell a new version of an ancient story from that county - all before discussing what that tale might mean, where it might have come from, and the truths it reveals about England's hidden past...

Bonus Episodes are released on Thursdays plus Local Legends episodes on Saturdays - interviews with acclaimed authors, folklorists, podcasters and historians with unique perspectives on that week's county.

With a range of exclusive content on Patreon too, including audio ghost tours, the Three Ravens Newsletter, and monthly Three Ravens Film Club episodes about folk horror films from across the decades, why not join us around the campfire and listen in?

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