The first song we arranged together was The Cuckoo and we gigged with that for a long time. Originally an English song that warns of the fickleness of true love, The Cuckoo has since travelled far and changed much. We later took on Ewan MacColl’s adaptation which introduces a dove in the cuckoo’s place as a symbol of peace and a statement against the horrors of war. We finish the song off with a driving fiddle tune, Wynchburgh Junction.
The White Dove
Oh the white dove she’s a pretty bird and she sings as she flies
And she brings us glad tidings and she tells us no lies
And she drinks the spring water for to make her voice clear
When her nest she is building and the summer draws near
Come all you young fellows take warning by me
Don’t go for a soldier don’t join no army
For the white dove she will leave you and the raven will come
And death will come marching at the beat of a drum
Come all you pretty fair maids take a walk in the sun
Don’t let your, your young man ever carry a gun
For the white dove it will scare her and she will fly away
And then there will be weeping by night and by day
Ewan Maccoll