Friday, February 6, 2009

Make A Moo Or Two: One




I'll sing you twelve, Ho
Green grow the rushes, Ho!
What are your twelve, Ho?
Twelve for the twelve Apostles
Eleven for the eleven who went to heaven,
Ten for the ten commandments,
Nine for the nine bright shiners,
Eight for the April Rainers,
Seven for the seven stars in the sky,
Six for the six proud walkers,
Five for the symbols at your door,
Four for the Gospel makers,
Three, three, the rivals,
Two, two, the lily-white boys,
Clothèd all in green, Ho
One is one and all alone
And evermore shall be so.

Green Grow The Rushes Ho - traditional folk song

Congratulations to Make a Moo or Two who this week, celebrate their first birthday with a challenge to create a Moo (or two) around a theme of the number one. This brought to mind a song that I learnt in school. As a seven year old, I thoroughly enjoyed bouncing up and down whilst singing this song at the top of my voice, having not a clue of its meaning. Wikipedia throws a little light on the subject: the lyrics of the song are in many places extremely obscure, and present an unusual mixture of Christian catechesis, astronomical mnemonics, and what may very well be pagan cosmology.
On this occasion, I've made not one, or two, but a triptique Moo. The gentlemen in the middle is Sam Bennett who was known as the Ilmington Fiddler. Along with members of my own family, Sam was one of the Morris Dancing side in the village of Ilmington, Warwickshire in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century.

15 comments:

Sandy said...

Wow these are stunning.
Wonderful moo´s.

Femmy said...

beautiful moos!! great images!

Barbara Hagerty said...

Very beautiful! A gorgeous triptych!

Anonymous said...

Fabulous set of MOO's

Anonymous said...

WOW!!! what a absolutely stunning moos. Love the whole idea

Donna B. Miller said...

What an awesome piece.

http://truutske.blogspot.com said...

Absolutely incredible Moo's.

http://truutske.blogspot.com said...

Thanks for your very nice comment on my blog.
I have looking your blog and I love your style.

indybev said...

Apparently my previous comment went into the vast cyber wasteland, so I'll try again. The originality and creativity of this piece are amazing. I love the elements, and the way you've used them is wondrous!

Char said...

These are really special. Fabulous take on the theme.

Sally said...

Fantastic Moos!

Anonymous said...

Gorgeous, gorgeous moos, love all three of them!!

pondlife said...

I remember singing that in the Riverside bar in Stonethwaite (just south of Keswick) in Borrowdale many years ago...

The beer was good enough to write home about, but we were never there long enough to do so...

Have you thought of producing these collages and the like into greetings cards... I'll be your agent in France... I suggested as much to Mrs P while we waded through thigh deep snow amongst the pines on Sunday... actually she suggested that to me...

stamp and scrape said...

I've always been fascinated by this song and its origins - thanks for the explanation. And wonderful to use some family history. Fabulous moo based on it.
Ros

Ozstuff said...

Even though I live on the other side of the world, I know this song. What a novel approach to the challenge! Your moos are stunning.