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All Things Are Quite Silent

[ Roud 2532 ; Master title: All Things Are Quite Silent ; Ballad Index VWL013 ; VWML RVW2/2/207 ; GlosTrad Roud 2532 ; trad.]

All Things Are Quite Silent is a woman’s lament for her husband who has been abducted from his bed and press-ganged into the navy. Ralph Vaughan Williams collected it in 1904 from Ted Baines of Lower Beeding, Sussex [VWML RVW2/2/207] . He and A.L. Lloyd published it in The Penguin Book of English Folk Songs.

Louis Killen sang All Things Are Quite Silent on his 1965 Topic album Ballads & Broadsides. Angela Carter noted:

Speaking more truly than he knew, Melville’s Billy Budd cried out, “Farewell, old Rights of Man!” as the press-gang rowed him from the merchant vessel, The Rights of Man and its kindly master to the grim privations of a Royal Navy man o’ war. To maintain the crews inside the ‘wooden walls of England’ in the hellish conditions below decks, press-gangs forced men where there were no volunteers and wives and sweethearts were left behind to mourn. This lament of a deserted wife seems to have been collected only once in the British tradition—by Vaughan Williams, in Sussex in 1904. It is the first song in The Penguin Book of English Folk Songs. The haunting first verse, where the press-gang breaks in on a scene of idyllic peace and tranquillity, recalls the more familiar ballad, The Lowlands of Holland. There the press-gang unceremoniously snatch a man from his marriage bed. But the stoic dignity of the wife in All Things Are Quite Silent is in marked contrast to the violent grief of the other girl.

Shirley Collins sang All Things Are Quite Silent in 1967 on her album The Sweet Primeroses; this recording was also included on her anthologies Fountain of Snow and The Classic Collection. A live performance recorded in 1978 in Dublin can be found on both Harking Back and Within Sound. Another live version sung at the Folk Festival Sidmouth in 1979 can be heard on the festival’s anthology and on the collection of Shirley Collins live recordings, Snapshots.

Shayna Karlin sang All Things Are Quite Silent on the 1968 album Soldiers and Sailors (Folksingers of Australia Volume 2). She noted:

Appalling conditions on board ships of the “King’s Navee” in the 18th and early 19th Centuries meant plenty of work for the men of the press-gangs. After having raised as many recruits as possible by posting patriotic bills in the market towns around the seaport, the captains of the ships of the line would send out press-gangs to search the courts, the streets and the inns. If these methods brought in insufficient numbers they would not stop short of dragging a man from his marriage bed. The haunting first verse, where the press-gang breaks in on a scene of idyllic peace and tranquility, recalls the more familiar ballad The Lowlands of Holland. But the stoic dignity of the wife in this song is in marked contrast to the violent grief of the other girl. The song has been collected only once in British tradition, by Ralph Vaughan Williams in Sussex in 1904.

The concertina here emulates the effect achieved by the medieval portative-organ used to accompany British folk singer, Shirley Collins.

Steeleye Span recorded All Things Are Quite Silent in 1970 for their first album, Hark! The Village Wait, at the suggestion of Ashley Hutchings. They returned to it in 2016 on their CD Dodgy Bastards where they noted:

The press gang was a much feared outfit that came off the ships in search of men to increase their company. They were either illegal or operated with the blessing of the navy, coming ashore and abducting men with impunity. This version comes from the The Penguin Book of English Folk Songs from the singing of Ted Baines, collected by Ralph Vaughan Williams.

Linda Adams sang All Things Are Quite Silent in 1986 on the Fellside anthology A Selection from The Penguin Book of English Folk Songs.

Phil Hare sang All Things Are Quite Silent in 1990 on his Fellside album Living on Credit.

Jo Freya sang All Things Are Quite Silent in 1992 on her CD Traditional Songs of England. She also sang it with Blowzabella as a bonus track of the 1996 CD re-issue of their album A Richer Dust. The first album’s notes commented:

Collected by Ralph Vaughan Williams from Ted Baines, Lower Beeding, Sussex in 1904, this song recounts the work of the dreaded press-gangs that terrorised the taverns, villages and farms around England’s coast up to the early decades of the 19th century. Conditions at sea were so notorious that the Navy relied upon such impressment to fill its warships. It seems that even the marriage bed was no insurance against being pressed to sea.

Kitty Vernon sang All Things Are Quite Silent in 1998 on her and Mick Pearce’s WildGoose CD Dark the Day. She noted:

This song of pressgangs has the distinction of being the first song in R. Vaughan Williams and A.L. Lloyd’s Penguin Book of English Folk Songs, from where we learned it. Almost forty years after its first publication, it still remains one of the best available collections of English traditional songs.

Hen Party sang All Things Are Quite Silent in 2002 on their WildGoose album The Heart Gallery. They noted:

The press gang ripped the heart out of countless lives. Perhaps this song is so touching because of the absence of anger and bitterness. It tells of love, longing and despair muted by tender memories and a fragile hopefulness. This is the first song in The Penguin Book of English Folk Songs, it was collected in Sussex by Vaughan Williams from Ted Baines in 1904.

Cross o’th Hands sang All Things Are Quite Silent on their 2003 CD Saint Monday. They noted:

If The Lowlands of Holland tells a press-gang story from a luckless sailor’s point of view, this charming tale of optimism from the The Penguin Book of English Folk Songs gives the woman’s perspective.

Wendy Stewart sang All Things Are Quite Silent on her 2003 Greentrax album Standing Wave.

The New Scorpion Band sang All Things Are Quite Silent in 2004 on their CD Out on the Ocean. Tim Laycock noted:

A very rare song, collected by Ralph Vaughan Williams from Ted Baines of Plummer’s Plain, Lower Beeding, Sussex in 1904 [VWML RVW2/2/207] . Press gangs were a legal and much-used means of making up the numbers for Naval crews during the 18th and early 19th century. A warrant of the time read “We do hereby impower and direct you to impress, or cause to be impressed, so many seamen, seafaring men and persons whose occupation and calling are to work in vessels and boats upon rivers, as shall be necessary to man His Majesty’s Ships under your command or any other of His Majesty’s Ships, giving unto each man so impressed One Shilling for Prest money.” ‘Press’ is a corruption of ‘prest’, meaning a loan or advance, when the victim was deemed to have signed a contract by the act of taking the King’s Shilling.

Charlotte Greig sang All Things Are Quite Silent on her 2005 album Quite Silent.

Bella Hardy sang All Things Are Quite Silent in 2007 on her first CD, Night Visiting.

You Are Wolf sang All Things Are Quite Silent on their 2011 EP Hunting Little Songs.

Diana Collier sang All Things Are Quite Silent unaccompanied on her 2015 album All Mortals ar Rest.

Andy Turner sang All Things Are Quite Silent as the 18 March 2016 entry of his project A Folk Song a Week.

Dipper Malkin sang All Things Are Quite Silent in 2017 on their CD Tricks of the Trade. They noted:

A woman laments her husband who has been press-ganged into the navy. Ralph Vaughan Williams collected this song in 1904 from Ted Baines, of Lower Beeding, Sussex. Dave [Malkin] learnt it from recordings of the Tyneside singer, Louis Killen.

Ian Robb sang All Things Are Quite Silent on his and James Stephens’ 2021 album Declining With Thanks. He noted:

Another song of forced recruitment, learned from the late, great English singer and concertina player Louis (later Louisa Jo) Killen, who was probably to blame for my choosing the concertina as my singing companion. It is the first song in the first edition of The Penguin Book of English Folk Songs, and deserves to be there for more than alphabetical reasons.

Lyrics

Louis Killen sings All Things Are Quite Silent

All things are quite silent, each mortal at rest,
As me and my true love was snug in one nest.
A bold set of ruffians they entered into our cave,
And forced my dear jewel to plough the salt wave.

I begged for my sailor as I’d begged for my life.
But they’d not listen to me although a fond wife,
Saying, “The king must have sailors, to the seas he must go.”
And they left me lamenting in sorrow and woe.

Through green fields and meadows we oft times did walk,
And with sweet conversations of love we did talk,
While the birds in the woodland so sweetly did sing,
And the young thrushes’ voices made the valleys to ring.

Though my love has left me I’ll not be cast down.
Who knows but some day my love might return?
And will make me amends for my sorrow and strife,
And me and my true love will be happy for life.

Steeleye Span sing All Things Are Quite Silent

All things are quite silent, each mortal at rest,
When me and my true love lay snug in one nest,
When a bold set of ruffians broke into our cave,
And they forced my dear jewel to plough the salt wave.

I begged hard for my darling as I would for my life.
But they’d not listen to me although a fond wife,
Saying, “The king must have sailors, to the seas he must go.”
And they’ve left me lamenting in sorrow and woe.

Through green fields and meadows we oft times have walked,
And the fond recollections together have talked,
Where the lark and the blackbird so sweetly did sing,
And the lovely thrushes’ voices made the valleys to ring.

Now although I’m forsaken, I won’t be cast down.
Who knows but my true love some day may return
And will make me amends for my trouble and strife,
And me and my true love might live happy for life.

Jo Freya sings All Things Are Quite Silent

All things are quite silent, each mortal at rest,
When me and my love lay snug in one nest,
Then a bold set of ruffians they entered our cave,
And they forced my dear jewel to plough the salt wave.

I begged hard for my sailor as though I begged for life.
They would not listen to me although a fond wife,
Saying, “The king he wants sailors, to the sea he must go.”
And they’ve left me lamenting in sorrow and woe.

Through green fields and meadows we oft times did walk,
And sweet conversation of love we have talked,
With the birds in the woodland so sweetly did sing,
And the lovely thrushes’ voices made the valleys to ring.

Although my love’s gone I will not be cast down.
Who knows but my sailor may once more return?
And will make me amends for all trouble and strife,
And me and my true love may live happy for life.