Recorded and mixed by Steven Collins at home in Leigh-on-Sea in between December 2006 and June 2007, and in Steven’s old bedroom at his mother’s house one day in May 2007;
Nancy Wallace, Pamela Wyn-Shannon, Hermione Swinford, Martyn Kember-Smith, Diana Hood and Yealand Redmayne recorded their own parts;
Mastered by Daniel at Code-Red;
Design and concept by Steven Collins with owl service plate drawings by Griselda Greaves, landscape silhouette from a photograph by Tom Bristow and floral frame and owl logos designed by Dom Cooper;

Musicians

Steven Collins: electric, acoustic and bass guitars, banjo, vocals, keyboards, drones, percussion, drums, synthesisers;
Jo Lepine: vocals [1-2, 8], chorus [10];
Hermione Swinford: harp [2];
Nancy Wallace: vocals [4];
Pamela Wyn-Shannon: vocals and banjo [5];
Diana Collier: vocals [7, 11], chorus [10];
Laura Hulse: vocals [13];
Paul Mickelthwaite: acoustic guitar [13];
Dom Cooper: vocals [10];
Martyn Kember-Smith: fiddle [10], chorus [10];
Diana Hood, Kate Collins: chorus [10]

Tracks

1. A Garland of Song (Folk Revival) (2.15)
2. Child Ballad No.49 (The Rolling of the Stones) (Roud 38; Child 49) (3.16)
3. Hoodening (2.13)
4. Turpin Hero (Roud 621; Laws L10) (4.11)
5. The North Country Maid (Roud 1367; Laws K43B; G/D 5:1058) (2.41)
6. The Lammas (1.49)
7. Katie Cruel (Roud 1645; G/D 4:725) (3.24)
8. Oxford City (or The Jealous Lover) (Roud 218; Laws P30; G/D 2:210) (2.55)
9. The Dorset Hanging Oak (6.35)
10. Apple Tree Man (3.11)
11. Child Ballad No.219 (The Gardener Child) (Roud 339; Child 219; G/D 4:840) (5.21)
12. Corn Dollies (1.35)
13. Flanders Shore (Roud 2636) (4.48)

Tracks 1, 3, 6, 9, 12 Steven Collins;
Tracks 2, 4-5, 7, 11, 13 trad. arr. Steven Collins;
Track 8 trad. arr. Jo Lepine;
Track 10 Dom Cooper, Lewis Hill, Steven Collins

Recorded and mixed at home between April 2007 and March 2008;
Alison O’Donnell’s vocals recorded in Dublin,
Artwork by Dominic Cooper

Musicians

Steven Collins: electric, acoustic and bass guitars, cuatro, ukulele, piano, organ, sitar, electric shruti box, electric tanpura, glockenspiel, percussion;
Charlie Skelton: uilleann pipes [1], Celtic harp [4], fiddle [2, 5];
Nancy Wallace: harmony vocals [3];
Ash Stonecott: drums [2]

Tracks

1. The Wooden Coat (5.04)
2. William & Earl Richard’s Daughter (Roud 3910; Child 102) (4.15)
3. Flodden Field (Roud 2862; Child 168) (4.00)
4. Scarlet Threads & Silver Needles (2.02)
5. The Fabric of Life (5.08)

Track 1 Alison O’Donnell, Steven Collins;
Tracks 2-3 trad. arr. Alison O’Donnell, Steven Collins;
Track 4 Steven Collins;
Track 5 Steven Collins, Alison O’Donnell, Dominic Cooper

Mastered by Mark Rutherford;
Design and illustration by Dom Cooper;
Woodcuts by Thomas Bewick

Musicians

Steven Collins, Dom Cooper, Katie English, Jo Lepine, Jason Steel, Nancy Wallace

with
Alison O’Donnell: vocals [1:1, 1:8, 2:10];
Roshi Naschi: piano and lead vocals [1:3];
Joolie Wood: strings [1:3], violin, clarinet and recorder [CD 2];
Naomy Browton: cello [2:15], backing vocals [2:15], vocals [2:17];
Magnus Dearness: trombone [CD 2];
Adam Leonard: vocals [2:6], backing vocals [2:3, 2:9, 2:14-15];

Tracks

CD 1 The Burn Comes Down

1. January Snows (Roud 175; Laws P20; G/D 6:1176) (fragment) (0.52)
2. Drive the Cold Winter Away (Roud V9375) (5.30)
3. When a Man’s in Love (Roud 990; Laws O20; Henry H211) (4.19)
4. Fire and Wine (fragment) (0.26)
5. The Bitter Withy (Roud 452) (2.16)
6. Cold and Raw (Roud 3007) (2.49)
7. January Snows (Roud 175; Laws P20; G/D 6:1176) (6.58)
8. The Snow It Melts the Soonest (Roud 3154) (fragment) (0.48)
9. Winter (A Dirge) (Roud B250062) (6.26)

Arranged, performed and recorded by The Owl Service through the winter of 2009/2010, except
Tracks 1, 8 trad. arr. Alison O’Donnell;
Track 3 trad. arr. Roshi Naschi / The Owl Service;
Track 4 Steve Ashley;
Track 9 lyrics Robert Burns

Bonus Tracks

10. Wake the Vaulted Echo (2.20)
11. By the Setting of the Sun (8.30)
12. The Church Grimm (full version) (3.38)
13. The Stone Bequest (1.38)
14. Maverick You Are (3.22)
15. Fine Horseman (Version 2) (3.29)
16. Saturnalia Song (3.15)

Written, arranged and performed by The Owl Service except
Track 14 Dom Cooper, Lewis Hill;
Track 15 Lal Waterson;
Collected from various handmade CD-R and compilations released in between 2006 and 2010

CD 2: The View from a Hill

1. Polly on the Shore (Roud 811) (1.29)
2. The Banks of the Nile (Roud 950; Laws N9; G/D 1:99; Henry H238a) (5.41)
3. Ladies, Don’t Go A-Thieving (Roud V28087) (3.03)
4. I Was a Young Man (Roud 1572; G/D 7:1291) (3.07)
5. Sorry the Day I Was Married (Roud 1561) (1.12)
6. Willie o’ Winsbury (Roud 64; Child 100; G/D 5:999; Henry H221) (5.53)
7. In Thorneymoor Woods Pt. 1 (Roud 222) (1.29)
8. The Bold Poachers (Roud 1686) (5.38)
9. In Thorneymoor Woods Pt. 2 (Roud 222) (1.00)
10. The Lover’s Ghost (Roud 179; Child 248) (3.41)
11. The Ladies Go Dancing at Whitsum (2.46)
12. Willie o’ Winsbury (Roud 64; Child 100; G/D 5:999; Henry H221) (reprise) (1.46)
13. The Loyal Lover (Roud 578) (2.15)
14. Within Sound (Roud 209) (1.01)
15. Cruel Mother (Roud 9; Child 20; G/D 2:193; TYG 73) (5.42)

Arranged, performed and recorded by The Owl Service between July 2008 and November 2009, except
Track 2 trad. arr. Nick Dow / The Owl Service;
Track 3 trad. arr. Dave Moran / The Owl Service;
Track 10 trad. arr. Alison O’Donnell / The Owl Service;
Track 11 Austin John Marshall;
Track 12 arr. Paul Giovanni / Magnus Dearness / The Owl Service

Bonus Tracks

16. Standing on the Shore (full version) (3.58)
17. Spring Strathspey (7.08)

Track 16 Johnny Moynihan arr. and performed by The Owl Service;
Track 17 Gwydion Pendderwen arr. and performed by The Owl Service;
Both tracks from the 2009 and 2010 Leigh Folk Festival compilation CDs

Garland Sessions is a reworked version of the debut album from the Owl Service, containing alternative versions and outtakes of all 13 original tracks remixed, remastered and partially re-recorded, plus an additional 5 tracks which were conceived around the same time.

Performed, recorded, mixed and mastered by Steven Collins;
Design and layout by Steven Collins, with invaluable assistance from Paul Jackson;
Garland sun by Dom Cooper

Musicians

Steven Collins: electric, acoustic and bass guitars, banjo, vocals, keyboards, drones, percussion, drums, synthesisers;
Jo Lepine: vocals [1-2, 9, 15];
Nancy Wallace: vocals [1, 10, 17], concertina [17];
Dom Cooper: vocals [3, 7, 15];
Katie English: flute [2, 4, 10], melodica [5, 11], glockenspiel [3];
Kate Denny: vocals [5];
Diana Collier: vocals [6, 15-16];
Rachel Davies: vocals [10];
Pamela Wyn-Shannon: 6-string banjo [10];
Rebsie Fairholm: vocals [14];
Martyn Kember-Smith: violin [14-15];
Diana Hood, Kate Collins: vocals [15];
Loura Hulse: vocals [19];
Paul Mickelthwaite: acoustic guitar [19]

Tracks

1. Folk Revival (A Garland Of Song) (2.18)
2. The Rolling of the Stones (Roud 38; Child 49) (3.05)
3. The Bear Ghost (4.43)
4. Hoodening (1.32)
5. A Child’s Calendar (4.04)
6. Katie Cruel (Roud 1645; G/D 4:725) (3.07)
7. The Two Magicians (Roud 1350; Child 44; G/D 2:334) (3.30)
8. The Dorset Hanging Oak (6.35)
9. Oxford City (Roud 218; Laws P30; G/D 2:210) (3.11)
10. The North Country Maid (Roud 1367; Laws K43B; G/D 5:1058) (2.47)
11. Fine Horseman (3.37)
12. Robin Hood and the Bold Pedlar (Roud 333; Child 132) (4.15)
13. The Lammas (1.43)
14. A Lyke Wake Dirge (Roud 8194; TYG 85) (4.46)
15. Apple Tree Man (3.30)
16. The Gardener Child (Roud 339; Child 219; G/D 4:840) (5.10)
17. Turpin Hero (Roud 621; Laws L10) (3.42)
18. Corn Dollies (1.10)
19. Flanders Shore (Roud 2636) (4.53)

Tracks 1, 4, 8, 13 Steven Collins;
Tracks 2, 6, 10, 16 trad. arr. Steven Collins;
Tracks 3, 15 Dom Cooper, Lewis Hill, Steven Collins;
Track 5 trad. arr. Steven Collins, Kate Denny;
Tracks 7, 12 trad. arr. Steven Collins, Dom Cooper;
Track 9 trad. arr. Jo Lepine;
Track 11 Lal Waterson;
Track 14 trad. arr. Steven Collins, Rebsie Fairholm;
Track 17 trad. arr. Steven Collins, Nancy Wallace;
Track 19 trad. arr. Laura Hulse, Paul Mickelthwaite, Steven Collins

Performed and recorded by The Owl Servicde at home in Leigh-on-sea, Bristol and Montreal;
Mixed and mastered at home by Steven Collins;
Band photography by Steven Collins and Trevor Kiernander

Musicians

Steven Collins: all instruments;
Diana Collier, Jo Lepine, Nancy Wallace: vocals

with
Laura Hulse Davies: vocals [4];
Michelle Bappoo: vocals [7];
Alison O’Donnell: vocals [8]

Tracks

1. The Widow’s Lament (Roud V13721) (4.02)
2. The False Knight (Roud 20; Child 3) (3.10)
3. The Skater (3.49)
4. Geordie (Roud 90; Child 209; G/D 2:249) (3.25)
5. Sea Song (4.47)
6. Salisbury Plain (Roud 1487) (2.32)
7. Living by the Water (4.46)
8. Hugh of Lincoln (Roud 73; Child 155) (4.12)
9. Willie’s Lady (Roud 220; Child 6; G/D 2:346) (6.53)

All tracks trad. except
Track 3 Ken Saul;
Track 5 Simon Jacquet;
Track 7 Anne Briggs

Produced, arranged, recorded and mixed by Anthony ‘Booster’ Bools in Skerries, Dublin;
Vocal arrangements by Alison O’Donnell;
Lead vocals recorded at Sonic Studio, Stoneybatter;
All other recording at Dublin, Ontario and Longford;
Mastered by Rudi Arapahoe;
Sleeve design and photography by Atalante Productions

Musicians

Alison O’Donnell: vocals, bodhrán, melodica, shruti box, omnichords, harmonium;
Anthony ‘Booster’ Bools: acoustic guitar, bass, banjo, mandolin, bodhrán, keyboards, synthesisers, melodica, backing vocals, samples, field recordings;
Andy Leighton: fiddle;
Barra McAllister: low whistle;
Eoin Ó’Cionnaith: uilleann pipes;
Barrie Glenn: mandolin, octomando;
Gerry O’Shaughnessy: electric guitar;
Eugene Quinn: banjo;
David Colohan: autoharp, Moog Mother 32, electric autoharp, electric mandola, modular synthesiser;
Marcin Oracki: bodhrán;
Joe Smyth: spoons;
Dave McCune: snare drum;
Marion Smith, Tom Finn: backing vocals;
Jim Dooley: drum sample

Tracks

1. Lass From a Distant Shore (3.51)
2. Farewell to the Strawberry Tree (4.50)
3. I Wish We’d Sailed on the Jeanie Johnston (4.42)
4. The Unwelcome Tide of Tomorrow (4.21)
5. Splendid Ring (3.16)
6. Brothers Grey (3.53)
7. Shout Our Redemption to the Silvery Pines (3.52)
8. The Man Who Taught the Nation (6.43)
9. Four Fine Females (5.00)
10. Scarlet Berries for the Mistle Thrush (4.23)
11. The Birds of Belfast Lough (3.32)

All tracks written by Alison O’Donnell and Anthony ‘Booster’ Bools