Summer jobs were hard to come by when I was a teenager. The economy was in the toilet, and any jobs that were out there went to people who were older, more qualified, or more desperate. We spent the summers wandering around the streets, getting into trouble, pissing about with various bands, and otherwise not doing much of anything.

Pretty much my only source of income was a small cheque from the government, what was known then as the ‘orphan's benefit'.  Whatever did not get spent on smokes and strings and bus money went to Fred's Records, on Duckworth Street. Fred's had a decent used LP section at the time, and records could be had for a dollar or two on a good day.

One Friday I wandered in, and immediately headed to the back where the small used folk section was. In those days, before everyone and his mother could put out cds, folk records were hard to come by. The entire Newfoundland record collection could still be easily counted in the dozens. Fortunately for me, some aging hippie who had fallen on hard times had come in earlier that day, and peddled his whole collection of 1970s folk albums. I bought the lot for a tenner, including two albums by a band I had never heard of, with the amazing name of Steeleye Span.

Steeleye Span does not sound much like Great Big Sea, or anything else out there these days, but in their time they were quite popular. The band's heyday was in the mid-70s, when their rock and traditional British folk fusion managed to crack the UK top-20. They never did much in North America, but they still have a large following among serious folk-rock fans.

Of the two albums I purchased, one was so scratched as to be unlistenable. The other was called Parcel of Rogues. It became one of my favourites. The album was released when the band was at the peak of their powers. Lead singer Maddy Prior never sounded better, and the arrangements are a perfect blend of British 60's rock and unusual UK folk songs. The album contains Misty, Moisty, Morning, (a song many bands have covered), but I preferred The Weaver & the Factory Maid. The song itself is simple, a ballad from the industrial revolution that speaks about a young farm hands' desire to leave the land and take a job in a factory, following a girl he loves. The song features Prior's voice soaring over the hymn-like melody, often harmonizing with herself, perfectly balanced with a symphonic arrangement of electric guitars and violins.

British folk songs are rarely as romantic as their Irish equivalents, and nowhere near as lush as French songs. While this one isn't very flowery, it has intensity rare in folk songs of any stripe. The narrator knows he is losing something important by going into the mills, but he believes he has found something better instead. His passionate defense relies on nothing except his own conviction, and is immune to criticism.

Many teenagers find themselves defending loves that make no sense to anyone else. The theme is a staple of pop songs. The anonymous writer of The Weaver and the Factory Maid managed it well enough for the song to still speak its sad and triumphant truth 250 years later.

As for your fine girls I don't care
If I could but enjoy my dear,
I'd stand in the factory all the day
And she and I'd keep our shuttles in play.

How can you say it's a pleasant bed,
When now't lies there but a factory maid?
A factory lass although she be,
Blest is the man that enjoys she.

             -The Weaver & the Factory Maid

http://steeleye.freeservers.com