A storming collection of songs, poetry and prose for the winter 2014/15

Drive The Cold Winter Away by Green Diesel
from the album "Wayfarers All"

Winter Singing by The Imagined Village
from the album "Bending The Dark"

The Running Fox by The Young 'Uns
from the album "Never Forget"

Sparrow by Peter Lacey
from the album "Last Leaf"
(featuring a quotation as recorded by The Venerable Bede)

Song For A Winter's Night by Reid Jamieson
from the album "Songs For A Winter's Night"

I heard a bird sing
In the dark of December
A magical thing
And sweet to remember.
'We are nearer to Spring
Than we were in September,'
I heard a bird sing
In the dark of December.
~ Oliver Herford, I Heard a Bird Sing

Winter King by Ninebarrow
from the album "When The Blackthorn Burns"

When Springtime Comes Around by Mark Ellis
from the album "When Springtime Comes Around"

A Season In Your Arms by Greg Russell and Ciaran Algar
from the album "The Call"

December Song by KC Barber
from the album "Cold Wind Blowing"

"The shed of leaves became a cascade of red and gold and after a time the trees stood skeletal against a sky of weathered tin. The land lay bled of its colors. The nights lengthened, went darker, brightened in their clustered stars. The chilled air smelled of woodsmoke, of distances and passing time. Frost glimmered on the morning fields. Crows called across the pewter afternoons."
~ James Carlos Blake, Wildwood Boys

Through The Winter by George Boomsma
from the EP "Through The Winter"

"He who marvels at the beauty of the world in summer will find equal cause for wonder and admiration in winter….
In winter the stars seem to have rekindled their fires, the moon achieves a fuller triumph, and the heavens wear a look of a more exalted simplicity."
~ John Burroughs, The Snow-Walkers

Red Deer White Snow by Stooshie
from the album "Stydd"

"I put up a petition annually, for as much snow, hail, frost, or storm, of one kind or other, as the skies can possibly afford us.
Surely every body is aware of the divine pleasures which attend a winter fire-side: candles at four o’clock, warm hearth-rugs, tea,
a fair tea-maker, shutters closed, curtains flowing in ample draperies on the floor, whilst the wind and rain are raging audibly without…"
~ Thomas De Quincey, Confessions of an English Opium-Eater

Weather by Rainbow Chasers
from the album "Chimes At Midnight"

Icicles by Miranda Sykes
from the album "Bliss"

The days are short,
The sun a spark
Hung thin between
The dark and dark.
Fat snowy footsteps
Track the floor,
And parkas pile up
Near the door.
The river is
A frozen place
Held still beneath
The trees’ black lace.
The sky is low.
The wind is gray.
The radiator
Purrs all day.
~ John Updyke, January

Gloomy Winter by Shine
from the album "Sugarcane"

"The English winter—ending in July, To recommence in August…"
~ Lord Byron
"There are two seasons in Scotland: June and Winter."
~ Billy Connolly

Highland Snow by Andi Butler
from the album "Six Songs"

“Winter is not a season; it's an occupation.”
~ Sinclair Lewis

Winter Fever by Kyle Carey
from the album "North Star"

Think of winter and think of snows
but in England that's not how it goes.
Here blizzards are as rare as a placid child,
English winters are wet and mild
and wild with gales and gnawing damp
that dull the days and put a cramp
on life out of doors. So we don't dash
through crystal drifts but trudge and splash
as the rain and drizzle floods and flows
and dewdrops drip from off our nose.
Then, soaked and raw, we go home quick
… and turn the heating up a click.
~ Phil Widdows, English Winter

January Sky by Charlie Mosbrook
from the album "Something To Believe"

"Winter is nature’s way of saying, 'Up yours!'."
~ Robert Byrne

Harbour View Hotel by Duncan McCrone
from the album "Colourblind"

"February is merely as long as is needed to pass the time until March."
~ Dr. J.R. Stockton

Storm by Nigel Brown
from the album "Mother Ivey"

For full details and links to artists' websites, see the ShowNotes at www.folkcast.co.uk