> Steeleye Span > Songs > Robbery With Violins

Robbery With Violins / The Bank of Ireland

[trad. arr. Hart / Johnson / Kemp / Knight / Prior]

Recorded by Steeleye Span for the album Parcel of Rogues, this track was also used as introduction of the famous Electric Muse 4 LP compilation. The latter album’s sleeve notes commented:

This track is ushered in by Rick Kemp’s bass, with ample use of wah-wah pedals as Peter Knight’s fiddle moves into the the melody of The Bank of Ireland (the title is a double joke). Peter Knight resists the temptation, so great in folk rock to alter his phrasing to fit in with the funky, dotted 2/4 of the bass.

There is a live recording of Steeleye Span playing the two reels The Bank of Ireland and Lucy Campbell on the compilation The Harvest of Gold; this is probably from a BBC Radio Concert Session in early 1973.