"Bethlehem Down" in the Pennines

Bethlehem Down is a haunting Christmas Carol that goes straight through my spin. Oddly enough, it is not festive, it's even a bit sad. I always loved it because it expresses a sense of missed opportunity to which I sometimes relate (and I totally recommend anything by Peter Warlock: his harmonies are out of this world). We were gonna do a whole lot of things when he is king.

We were driving through the North Pennines, a desolate land with nothing but sheeps and we were chatting about carols. I asked: do you know Bethlehem Down? You did. We chatted about it: it's a odd one isn't it? What a melancholy little carol. You knew the lyrics. You were so musical that we tried to put Bethlehem Down onto a major key, rejigging the melody. We had just spent 48 hours together at a conference. I was pleased to have a new friend.

Today was the first time I listened to Warlock since I found out. The feeling in the pit of my stomach is different: Warlock, lovely Warlock. You were the only one who knew of him. My hypnotic, wintery little carol, that makes me wish I'd spend christmas on the pavement. Will I ever listen to it with the same wonder again?


Picture: Alex Braiford on Trekearth. Full credits here.
(There's an okay exerpt of Bethlehem Down on Amazon, it's number 7)