MAURICE LEYDEN & JANE CASSIDY - Linen Songs
Ashgrove Music ASH007
Maurice and Jane alternate the vocals on most of the CD, allowing the listener to savour the contrasts and similarities between the male and female experiences of the industry during its long history in the northern part of Ireland. The mood varies from the acidic bite of Fincairn Flax (who’d have thought it was written by a cleric?) through Maurice’s own superbly worded Weaver’s Web (based on a single verse sung by Robert Cinnamond) to the boozy pleasures of Long Cookstown.
Throughout the recording, it’s good to see that the singers haven’t been afraid to amalgamate different versions in order to offer more complete stories, and their undoubted scholarship means that the sleeve notes are authorative and informative.
Three consecutive tracks stood out for me as being particularly well told tales – Young McCance, The Hackler Boy and The Bleacher And The Weaver. Maurice and Jane have been taking their songs into schools for many years and, aside from being a good listen, this CD has the potential to inspire several educational projects.
www.ulsterfolksong.com
John Waltham
This review appeared in Issue 145 of The Living Tradition magazine