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The False Bride

from Outsiders by Chris Foster

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  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    Chris' 6th solo album contains a mix of old traditional songs and ballads along with a few from the last 60 years. Comes in a beautifully designed 3 fold digipak with a booklet containing all song lyrics and featuring cover art by Chris. The album was a runner up in the 2008 fROOTS magazine, best folk / world music album of 2008.

    Includes unlimited streaming of Outsiders via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
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  • Buy the Full Digital Album

about

Songs by and about jilted and bereft lovers are, unsurprisingly, thick on the ground. This version of ‘The False Bride’, expresses feelings
of betrayal and loss with a powerful simplicity which I find particularly moving.

Some versions of this popular song date back to the 17th century. I found this one, collected from George Baldwin of Tichborne, Hants in
1907 by George Gardiner, in The Foggy Dew, one of four little song books, compiled by Frank Purslow and published by the English Folk
Dance and Song Society (EFDSS) in the 1960’s and ’70’s. The books were based on the song collections made in Hampshire, Dorset and
Somerset in the early 1900’s by George Gardiner and the brothers Robert and Henry Hammond. The ‘Purslow books’ were a gold mine
of good songs which led me to delve deeper into the Hammond and Gardiner notebooks in the Vaughan Williams Memorial Library at Cecil
Sharp House, (headquarters of the EFDSS) in London.

lyrics

O the week before Easter
A day long and clear
How pretty shone the sun
And how cold blew the air
I went down in the forest
Some flowers to find there
But the forest wouldn’t yield me any posies

As I was returning
All late in the night
I met my false lover
Dressed all in milk white
And I lifted my hat
To bid her a goodnight
And adieu to my false love for ever

The next time I saw my love
It was to the church go
With brides-men and brides-maids
She cut a fine show
And I followed after
With my heart full of woe
To see her getting wed to another

The parson was standing
And this he did say
If anyone forbid it
I would have them draw nigh
And I thought to myself
I’d a good reason why
But I had not the heart to forbid her

The last time I saw my love
Was at her wedding feast
I sat down beside her
But nought could I eat
For I loved her sweet company
Far better than meat
Although she was tied to another

Come dig me a grave
That is long wide and deep
And strew it all over
With flowers so sweet
So that I might lie down there
And take a long sleep
Because that’s the best way to forget her
Yes, I think that’s the best way to forget her

credits

from Outsiders, track released April 23, 2008
Chris Foster - vocal & langspil
Val Regan - fiddle
Trevor Lines - double bass
Laura Fiddaman - cello
Ruth Angel - viola

String arrangement by Bára Grímsdóttir

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about

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Chris Foster Reykjavik, Iceland

Chris Foster grew up in the south west of England. A master of his trade, he was recently described as “one of the finest singers and most inventive guitar accompanists of English folk songs, meriting legend status.” Over the past 40 years, he has toured throughout the UK, Europe, Canada and the USA. He has recorded six solo albums as well as working on many collaborative projects. ... more

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