Bulfinch (and others), found in the wild

Recently I treated myself to the e-book version of The Myth Made Fact: Reading Greek and Roman Mythology through Christian Eyes, by Louis Markos (Classical Academic Press, 2020). In the back of the book, Markos includes a bibliography and further reading suggestions.

"There are three traditional collections to which one can turn for an overview of Greek mythology: Bulfinch’s Mythology, which offers the most poetic retellings of the myths in supple prose; Edith Hamilton’s Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes, which is more compact and accessible for the general reader; and Robert Graves’s The Greek Myths (in two volumes), which is for the reader who wants more specialized knowledge about the myths and their origins. For illustrated books of mythology, see Ingri D’Aulaires’ Book of Greek Myths, Aliki’s The Gods and Goddesses of Olympus, and Donna Jo Napoli and Christina Balit’s Treasury of Greek Mythology: Classic Stories of Gods, Goddesses, Heroes & Monsters. But the best way to experience the myths is by turning to the ancient Greek and Roman poets themselves..."

So, we are not in such bad company.

Which mythology books are your family go-to's?

Introducing the AO Folk Songs for 2025-2026

TERM 1

The Three Ravens

On Ilkla (Ilkley) Moor Baht 'at (Without a Hat)

The Rose of Tralee

TERM 2

Battle of Otterburn (The Lammas Tide)

Wade in the Water

Down in the Valley

TERM 3

Scarborough Fair

Along the Road to Gundagai 

I'll Tell Me Ma (The Belle of Belfast City)

Some of you may remember these songs from the last time we worked our way through the AmblesideOnline cycle of folk songs. But if you're new here, and even if you're not, we think you'll get more out of these songs if you read the blog posts we've put together for them.

For selected video links, please visit our Folk Songs page at AmblesideOnline.org. 

We are also featuring each folk song on its very own post here on Archipelago, linked in the list above. These posts will be linked from the AO Folk Songs page, too. This way, when you start preparing to introduce a new song, it will be easy as pie to click straight to that song's blog post. Be sure to check out each song's post for recommended lyrics and recordings, and interesting info about each song.

And Now For A Few Helpful Hints

If you’re new around here (and if so, welcome and we’re so glad you’re here!), please (we beg you!) read/re-read Wendi Capehart’s post Folk Songs: Some Back Story. Then read her brief but terrific introductory comments here, where she shared some of her easy but brilliant ideas for living the folk singing life.

You may also enjoy this essay by Lynn Bruce: Folk Songs, Unplugged. 

And if you’re still not quite sure why we AO folks make such a fuss about singing, please read Folk Songs: Some Real Life Experiences for a hearty dose of encouragement. 

Here's to another great year of singing!

Folk Song for June 2026: I'll Tell Me Ma (Belle of Belfast City)

The last song for this school year is a fun, fast children's game/dancing song. Although it is now thought of as an Irish song (referring to the Belle of Belfast City), it was also heard in other parts of the United Kingdom, naming other places such as "London City."

The Wikipedia page for this song lists a wide variety of performers, more than we can list here. Some to check out: The Chieftains, The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem, and (for the Canadians) The Rankin Family.

Lyrics

(Chorus)

I'll tell me ma, when I go home
The boys won't leave the girls alone
They pulled my hair, they stole my comb
But that's alright, 'til I go home
She is handsome, she is pretty
She is the belle of Belfast city
She is a-courting one, two, three
Please, won't you tell me who is she?

1. Albert Mooney says he loves her
All the boys are after her [fightin' for her]
Knock at the door, ringin' the bell
Oh, my true love are you well?
Out she comes as white as snow
Rings on her fingers, bells on her toes
Wee Jenny Murray says she'll die
If she doesn't get the fellow with the roving eye

(Chorus)

I'll tell me ma, when I go home
The boys won't leave the girls alone
They pulled my hair, they stole my comb
But that's alright, 'til I go home
She is handsome, she is pretty
She is the belle of Belfast city
She is a-courting one, two, three
Please, won't you tell me who is she?

2. Let the wind and the rain and the hail blow high
And the snow come tumbling from the sky
She's as nice as apple pie
And she'll get her own lad [boy] by and by
When she gets a lad of her own
She won't tell her ma when [till] she comes home
Let them all come as they will
For it's Albert Mooney she loves still

(Chorus)

I'll tell me ma, when I go home
The boys won't leave the girls alone
They pulled my hair, they stole my comb
But that's alright, 'til I go home
She is handsome, she is pretty
She is the belle of Belfast city
She is a-courting one, two, three
Please, won't you tell me who is she?

(Repeat chorus 2x)

Video Links

Belle of Belfast City (Irish Rovers). Also here. The first link includes lyrics on the screen. The second link includes this additional verse:

A-skipping she's the best of all
She never slips, she never falls
Double Dutch or Heel and Toe
She's the one that steals the show
When they all come out to play
She's the one that leads the way
And Albert Mooney's always there
To see the girl with the golden hair.

Sham Rock. This one goes pretty fast. The video shows a variety of people dancing in a pub, including, apparently, Elvis.

Abby Ulveland and Possibly Irish. Fun video, very family-friendly.

Bonus Video: Angelo Kelly and Family. This is what it looks like when families sing together!

Our helpful intro post is sure to liven up your folk song adventures.

For more information on our folk songs, and for Amazon affiliate 

links to purchase individual songs, see our AO Folk Songs page.

These affiliate links help support AmblesideOnline. 

Folk Song for May 2026: Along the Road to Gundagai

 "Along the Road to Gundagai" is a popular and peppy Australian song, written by Jack O'Hagan in 1922. One interesting fact (according to Wikipedia) is that, in spite of writing a tremendously famous song about the town of Gundagai, O'Hagan did not actually visit it until 1956, when he was the guest of honour at its centenary celebrations.

Lyrics (as recorded by Peter Dawson in 1924)

There's a track winding back
To an old-fashioned shack
Along the road to Gundagai.

Where the blue gums [gum trees] are growing
And the Murrumbidgee's flowing
Beneath the sunny sky,

Where my daddy and mother are waiting for me
And the pals of my childhood once more I will see.
Then no more will I roam when I'm heading right for home
Along the road to Gundagai.

Video Links

The Howie Brothers (This video begins with a half-minute clip from a silent movie. It also adds an extra verse.)

Slim Dusty. Classic version.

Our helpful intro post is sure to liven up your folk song adventures.

For more information on our folk songs, and for Amazon affiliate 

links to purchase individual songs, see our AO Folk Songs page.

These affiliate links help support AmblesideOnline. 

Folk Song for April 2026: Scarborough Fair

"Scarborough Fair" is a traditional English folk song (one of the Child Ballads). It has been best known, for the past several decades, in a version by Simon and Garfunkel (sung live here along with Andy Williams).

However, the song, in its original version, is much older than that. It is one of a special genre of old songs (sometimes called paradox or riddle songs) that ask someone to do impossible tasks, like making a shirt "without any seam or needlework." How can that be done? Will the singers ever get together in spite of their impossible demands? We can only guess.

Lyrics

One set of lyrics can be found at the website of the Brobdingnagian Bards, here and here.

As a second option, the Wikipedia article includes the first three stanzas as given in the book Traditional Tunes, by Frank Kidson (1891) (which, interestingly, suggests quite a different tune. Those who can read music might want to experiment with that). Here is the full set of lyrics as given in the same book. The first part of the song is sung by a man; the second is a response from the woman.

(Note that most recordings of the song substitute "Parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme" for "Savoury sage.")

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“O, where are you going?” “To Scarborough fair,”

Savoury sage, rosemary, and thyme;

“Remember me to a lass who lives there,

For once she was a true love of mine.

“And tell her to make me a cambric shirt.

Savoury sage, rosemary, and thyme,

Without any seam or needlework,

And then she shall be a true love of mine.

“And tell her to wash it in yonder dry well,

Savoury sage, rosemary, and thyme,

Where no water sprung, nor a drop of rain fell,

And then she shall be a true love of mine.

“Tell her to dry it on yonder thorn,

Savoury sage, rosemary, and thyme,

Which  never bore blossom since Adam was born,

And then she shall be a true love of thine.”

“Oh, will you find me an acre of land,

Savoury sage, rosemary, and thyme.

Between the sea foam, the sea sand,

Or never be a true lover of mine.

“O, will you plough it with a ram’s horn.

Savoury sage, rosemary, and thyme,

And sow it all over with one peppercorn,

Or never be a true lover of mine.

“O, will you reap it with a sickle of leather,

Savoury sage, rosemary, and thyme,

And tie it all up with a peacock’s feather,

Or never be a true lover of mine.

“And when you have done and finished your work,

Savoury sage, rosemary, and thyme,

You may come to me for your cambric shirt,

And then you shall be a true lover of mine.”

Video Links

The Celtic Woman. Includes onscreen lyrics.

Ewan MacColl, from his 1957 album with Peggy Seeger, Matching Songs of the British Isles and America.

Our helpful intro post is sure to liven up your folk song adventures.

For more information on our folk songs, and for Amazon affiliate 

links to purchase individual songs, see our AO Folk Songs page.

These affiliate links help support AmblesideOnline. 

Folk Song for March 2026: Down in the Valley

"Down in the Valley" used to be a song that everybody knew, in some form or other. If it is new to you, we hope that it will become one of your family favourites as well. It may not be quite as old as many traditional folk songs, though. 

According to Wikipedia, it was written by a "moonshiner" named Jimmie Tarlton when he was jailed (in Birmingham, Alabama) in 1925. The song was recorded by Jimmie Tarlton and Tom Darby in 1927.

However, other sources say that the song is much older. This article says, "It is part of the English, Irish, and Scottish courting song traditions that persisted in the Appalachian and Ozark Mountains throughout the nineteenth century. The melody may be derived from J.C. Beckel's "The Happy Home Waltz," published in 1850. Alternately, "Down in the Valley" may be an older tune that inspired Beckel's composition." The early versions are more like courting songs, and don't include the references to jail.

In any case, Tarlton's version inspired many other recordings, as well as performances in movies and television.

Lyrics (these are typical, but there are many variations)

Down in the valley valley so low
Hang your head over hear the wind blow
Hear the wind blow dear hear the wind blow
Hang your head over hear the wind blow.

Roses love sunshine violets love dew
Angels in heaven know I love you
Know I love you dear know I love you
Angels in heaven know I love you.

If you don’t love me love whom you please
Throw your arms ’round me give my heart ease
Give my heart ease love give my heart ease
Throw your arms round me give my heart ease.

Build me a castle forty feet high
So I can see him as he rides by
As he rides by love as he rides by
So I can see him as he rides by.

Write me a letter send it by mail
Send it in care of Birmingham jail [or, "You can address it, Birmingham jail"]
Birmingham jail love Birmingham jail
Send it in care of Birmingham jail.

Recommended Video Links

The Browns (trio). Description includes lyrics.

Faye Tucker, from the album "Belly Up To the Bar: Country and Western Classics to Drown Your Sorrows." Despite the title, this is a good and fairly slow version to learn with.

Clip from the Andy Griffith show. Slightly different tune.

 Some Others You Might Like

Here is Burl Ives' classic version.

"Birmingham Jail" by Leadbelly

Jerry Garcia and David Grisman, from the album "Shady Grove"

A live performance by Glen Campbell.

Our helpful intro post is sure to liven up your folk song adventures.

For more information on our folk songs, and for Amazon affiliate 

links to purchase individual songs, see our AO Folk Songs page.

These affiliate links help support AmblesideOnline. 

Folk Song for February 2026: Wade in the Water (with contributions from Wendi Capehart)

In 2018, our much-loved Advisory member Wendi posted here about the song "Wade in the Water." We thought it would be good to hear again what she had to say about it. (Most of the links given are hers as well.)

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Somehow in the domino effect that happens when chasing down information on the internet I ended up clicking a link to Wade in the Water, a favourite of mine since childhood days.

There are a lot of variations to this one, both to the lyrics and the tune, although the basic heart of the song is always:

Wade in the water.
Wade in the water, children
Wade in the water.
God's gonna trouble the water.

According to Wikipedia, ""Wade in the Water" (Roud 5439) is the name of a Negro spiritual first published in New Jubilee Songs as Sung by the Fisk Jubilee Singers (1901) by John Wesley Work II and his brother, Frederick J. Work (see Fisk Jubilee Singers). It is associated with the songs of the Underground Railroad."

(The Fisk Jubilee Singers are an African-American a cappella ensemble, consisting of students at Fisk University. The first group was organized in 1871 to tour and raise funds for college. Their early repertoire consisted mostly of traditional spirituals, but included some Stephen Foster songs. The original group toured along the Underground Railroad path in the United States, as well as performing in England and Europe. Later 19th-century groups also toured in Europe.)

What does it mean?  Depends on who you ask, and also on who is singing.

Some of the reference are obvious:

For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the water: whosoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had., John 5:4

Moses led the Israelites out of slavery.

Under the surface: it's probably a spiritual celebrating freedom and encouraging it as well, literally.   Harriet Tubman was the Moses of her people. The Ohio River had to be crossed to reach freedom, and often references to the Jordan River were coded references to The Ohio River. It's giving hints on how to get to freedom- wade in the water to keep the blood hounds off your trail, follow our Moses, cross the Ohio river, make it to the other side.  

When God troubles the water... is that a reference to conditions being right to make a run for freedom?  

The background is meaningful and important- but if you only have time for one thing, make it be singing the song (s)

Sing!

Lyrics

We recommend the set of lyrics given here.

Video Links

On the AO Folk Songs webpage, you will see two links to Youtube videos. The first goes to this one by the Staple Singers, and the second goes to this one by the vocal ensemble Chanticleer.

Here are the extra videos that Wendi recommended, with her notes.

Wade in the Water by the Jeeemeys, the alter-ego of musician and teacher Jimmy Rossi. Mr. Rossi put the lyrics in his video so it's easy to follow along. This version is also fairly simple and easy to follow as it lacks the wonderful improvisation that often accompanies Wade in the Water.

Wade in the Water by Ella Fitzgerald and the Goodwill Spiritual Choir

Here's a version by the Blind Boys of Alabama   

St James Missionary Baptist church of Canton, 1978

Topher Keene teaches an audience how to sing it in 3 part harmony, a very good teaching/learning recording for those who want extra help (could be fun with an AO/CM co-op) 

Our helpful intro post is sure to liven up your folk song adventures.

For more information on our folk songs, and for Amazon affiliate 

links to purchase individual songs, see our AO Folk Songs page.

These affiliate links help support AmblesideOnline.