Songs for Saturday: Sir Patrick Spens

[mdlbear]

I didn't really have a song lined up for today, but I've been hearing Buffy Sainte-Marie's version of "Sir Patrick Spens" in my head all week, and who am I to waste a perfectly good earworm?

Buffy's version of "Sir Patrick Spens", off her album Little Wheel Spin and Spin, is a particularly haunting one. I was unable to find the lyrics for this version, but here is Child #58, so you can piece it together, more or less, for yourself.

In case you've never heard the expression "the new moon with the old moon in her arms", it refers to light reflected from the Earth illuminating the dark side of the Moon during the waxing crescent phase. Tides are particularly high at that time because the moon and sun are roughly in line on the same side of the Earth. Not a good time to be out on rough seas in winter.

@ Sir Patrick Spens - Wikipedia Buffy Sainte-Marie - Wikipedia Little Wheel Spin and Spin - Wikipedia Earthlight (astronomy) - Wikipedia Buffy Sainte Marie - "Sir Patrick Spens" - YouTube English and Scottish Popular Ballads, by Francis James Child, #58