Lyke Wake Dirge (Funeral Folk Song) on Anglo Saxon Lyre / Harp

Apologies for the sound on this one - we were doing an immersive weekend and it started raining while i was recording, so feast preparations were being moved inside the hall while I was doing the video - I meant to record over it at home but haven't got round to it.

This folk song was sung while watching over the dead before the funeral. It was first recorded in the 1600s, but it is believed to be much older, with pre-Christian themes despite the refrain. The original words were written in Yorkshire dialect, and have similarities to the Norwegian ‘Draumkvedet’ (where the deceased must also pass through a moor of thorns, a bridge and fire).

There are several melodies but this one seems to be the oldest, though may not be original (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyke-Wa... and https://mainlynorfolk.info/peter.bell....

Many thanks to John, Jess and Jenn for their help. Filmed at Regia Anglorum's saxon hall at Wychurst. Some background noise as we were doing an event at the time.

My favourite version of the song is that by Matt Berninger and Andrew Bird, used for the soundtrack to the TV series ‘The living and the dead’.    • A Lyke Wake Dirge  

I’ve altered some of the lyrics to make the story clearer.

This one night, this one night
Every night and all
Thou hast hearth and home and candlelight
And Christ receive thy soul

First, thou must cross the gorse-covered heath
Then the Bridge of Dread with the fires beneath

If ever thou gavest clothing or shoes
Sit thee down and from them choose

If clothing or shoes thou never gavest none
May the thorns on the moor prick thee to the bare bone

When the gorse-covered moor thou hast passed
To the Bridge Of Dread though com’st at last

If ever though gavest silver or gold
On this bridge thou shalt find foothold

If silver or gold thou never gave at all
Down, down into the fires below thou shalt fall