Composer's Notes:
It’s a children’s song, although in this case, sung by an adult. I wanted to include an educational element in the lyrics, and in the middle ages, the wool industry was extremely important. It was an abundant local resource. The lyrics include the phrase “even as the King decrees, help my loved one rest in peace”, because in 1678, an Act in the reign of Charles II was passed, so that people had to be buried in wool, and coffins lined with it, to increase the use of this home-produced commodity and reduce the imports of other materials.
This track is in the style of a madrigal, shifting into a section sung as ‘a round’.
(Mike Flood - 14th November 2019)
lyrics
PART 1
We are a flock of sheep,
We frolic on the hillside
Across the fields of green,
Come sunshine, rain or ‘tween.
The grass is fresh and sweet,
We keep it nice and tidy.
And as our size increases
We grow our woolly fleeces!
The Shepherd keeps us safe,
His faithful dog to help him.
She plays with us and then
She guides us to our pen.
And wool is what we give
for such a carefree living.
Our fleeces, when they’re shorn
Could cover every lawn.
Baa…
PART 2 (Sung as a round – by humans!)
Twisting wool makes thread and yarn,
Useful stuff to mend and darn.
Spinning, weaving, warp and weft,
Crissing-Crossing, right and left.
Magically, before your eyes,
Yards of cloth, materialised!
Bonnet for a baby’s head,
Or a blanket for the bed,
Conjure-up a hero’s cloak,
or a smock for village folk.
Shades us when the sun is bold,
Keeps us warm in winter’s cold.
Even as the King decrees,
Help my loved one rest in peace.
We are a flock of sheep,
We frolic on the hillside
Across the fields of green,
Come sunshine, rain or ‘tween.
The grass is fresh and sweet,
We keep it nice and tidy.
And as our size increases
We grow our woolly fleeces!
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