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The Scarecrow

[ Roud - ; Lal & Mike Waterson]

Mike Waterson sang The Scarecrow, accompanied by Richard Thompson and Martin Carthy on acoustic guitars, in 1972 on Lal & Mike Waterson’s famous Trailer album of their own songs, Bright Phoebus. A 1971 demo version sung by Lal Waterson was included in 2017 on the album’s Domino reissue’s bonus CD, and in 2013 on Lal’s Fledg’ling portrait Teach Me to Be a Summer’s Morning.

Tony Capstick sang The Scarecrow in 1978 on his live album Tony Capstick Does a Turn.

Nick Dow sang The Scarecrow in 1978 on his Dingle’s album Burd Margaret. He noted:

A song written by Mike Waterson which describes the legendary origin of the scarecrow. It relates to a religious cult existing in some communities, which chose a traveller to be treated like a king for a year. At the end of this time, during which the traveller was allowed to sleep with the high priestess, he was sacrificed to the corn god and his body left on a pole in the cornfield. The offspring of his union with the priestess later suffered the same fate in the spring.

June Tabor sang The Scarecrow in 1983 on her Topic album Abyssinians. This recording was also included in 1990 on her anthology Aspects and in 2003 on her anthology The Definitive Collection. She noted:

The strength of visual image is worthy of Ingmar Bergman, as is the story; the Earth Mother is all-powerful here.

The Fatima Mansions sang The Scarecrow in 1992 on their EP Evil Man.

Deb Sandland, Phil Beer and Jem McAuley sang The Scarecrow in 2000 on the Teenage Cancer Trust charity album Heart of England.

Dick Gaughan sang The Scarecrow in 2002 on the Lal & Mike Waterson tribute album Shining Bright. This recording was also included in 2006 on his anthology The Definitive Collection.

James Yorkston sang The Scarecrow in 2003 on his EP Someplace Simple.

The Witches of Elswick sang The Scarecrow in 2003 on their album Out of Bed. They noted:

Becky thinks this song deals with the changing of the seasons and the passing of time, the others think it’s about sex—with a scarecrow. Fay’s not allowed to do harmonies very often because it scares us. This is what she came out with. Don’t be afraid to be afraid.

Tinkerscuss sang The Scarecrow in 2007 on their CD Mythago.

Kirsty Merryn sang The Scarecrow in 2021 on her and Ben Walker’s EP Life and the Land. They noted:

We both love a dark and eerie tale in our solo work, so neither of us could resist including this fantastic song from Lal and Mike Waterson’s album Bright Phoebus. With echoes again of the sacrifice made to bring the corn, it brings us back around to the start of the season and to old John Barleycorn in another guise.

Melrose Quartet sang The Scarecrow on their 2023 album Make the World Anew. They noted:

Although most people familiar with this song will know it from the 1972 classic LP Bright Phoebus where it was sung by Mike Waterson, Jess [Arrowsmith] fell in love with Lal’s delivery on a demo recorded in 1971, stripped back to a sparse and powerful word painting of the cycle of seasons with a scarecrow in the foreground.

Melrose Quartet sing The Scarecrow in this video by Marry Waterson:

Lyrics

Mike Waterson sings The Scarecrow

As I roved out one summer’s morn,
I saw a scarecrow tied to a pole in a field of corn.
His coat was black and his head was bare,
And as the wind shook him the crows took up into the air.

Ah, but you’d lay me down and love me,
Ah, but you’d lay me down and love me if you could.
For you’re only a bag of rags in an overall
That the wind sways so the crows fly away and the corn can grow tall.

As I roved out one winter’s day,
I saw an old man hanging from a pole in a field of clay.
His coat was gone and his head hung low,
Till the wind flung it up to look, wrung its neck and let it go.

How could you lay me down and love me?
How could you lay me down and love me now?
For you’re only a bag of bones in an overall
That the wind blows and the kids throw stones at the thing on the pole.

As I rode out one fine spring day,
I saw twelve jolly dons dressed out in the blue and the gold so gay.
And to a stake they tied a child newborn,
And the songs were sung, the bells was rung, and they sowed their corn.

Now you can lay me down and love me,
Now you can lay me down and love me if you will.
For you’re only a bag of rags in an overall
But the wind blew and the sun shone too and the corn grew tall.

As I roved out one summer’s morn,
I saw a scarecrow tied to a pole in a field of corn.

June Tabor sings The Scarecrow

As I walked out one summer’s morn,
Saw a scarecrow tied to a pole in a field of corn.
His coat was black, and his head was bare,
When the wind shook him the crows took up into the air.

Ah, but you’d lay me down and love me,
Ah, but you’d lay me down and love me if you could.
But you’re only a bag of rags in an overall
That the wind sways and the crows fly away and the corn grows tall.

As I walked out one winter’s day,
Saw an old man hanging from a pole in a field of clay.
His coat was gone, and his head hung low,
Till the wind flung it up to look, wrung its neck and let it go.

How could you lay me down and love me?
How could you lay me down and love me now?
For you’re only a bag of bones in an overall
That the wind blows and the kids throw stones at the thing on the pole.

As I walked out one fine spring day,
Saw twelve jolly dons decked out in the blue and the gold so gay.
And to a stake they tied a child newborn,
Then the bells were rung and the songs were sung and they sowed their corn.

Now you can lay me down and love me,
Now you can lay me down and love me if you will.
But you’re only a bag of rags in an overall
But the wind blew and the sun shone too and the corn grew tall.

As I walked out one summer’s morn,
Saw a scarecrow tied to a pole in a field of corn.

The Fatima Mansions sing The Scarecrow

As I walked out one summer’s morn,
I saw a scarecrow tied to a pole in a field of corn.
His coat was black and his head was bare,
When the wind shook him, the crows took up into the air.

Ah, but you’d lay me down and love me,
Ah, but you’d lay me down and love me, if you could.
But you’re only a bag of rags in an overall
That the wind sways and the crows fly away and the corn grows tall.

As I walked out one winter’s day,
I saw an old man dangling from a pole in a field of clay.
His coat was gone and his head hung low,
Till the wind flung it up to look, wrung its neck and let it go.

How could you lay me down and love me?
How could you lay me down and love me now?
For that you’re only a bag of bones in an overall
That the wind blows and the kids throw stones at the thing on the pole.

As I walked out one fine spring day,
I saw twelve jolly dons decked out in the blue and the gold so gay.
And to a stake they tied a child new born,
Then the bells were rung, and the songs were sung, and they sowed their corn.

And now you can lay me down and love me,
Now you can lay me down and love me if you will.
But you’re only a bag of rags in an overall
That the wind blew and the sun shone too and the corn grew tall.

As I walked out one summer’s morn,
I saw a scarecrow tied to a pole in a field of corn.