Fairport Convention
Sloth (Full House)
By Marcel Veltman

Only the basic chords as they were played by Simon Nicol on the acoustic. What really
made this song interesting, however, was Richard Thompson and Dave Swarbrick taking it
way up and down to heaven in two lengthy instrumental breaks and a beautifull outro.
Perhaps this was the best track on the best English folk-rock album ever.

(Chorus)
 G                      C     G                  C
   Just a roll, just a roll. Just a roll on the drum
 G                      C            F        Am
   Just a roll, just a roll and the war has begun

G                            C               
   Now the right things the wrong things
G                      C
   No more excuses to come
G                        C            F       Am
   Just one step at the time and the war has begun

(Chorus)

(Instrumental break, same chords)

She's runaway she's runaway
And she ran so bitterly
Now call for your coloured friends
Don't you call for me

(Chorus)

(Instrumental break. Leadsinger may go out to take a lunch)

Don't you cry don't you cry
Don't you cry upon the sea
Don't you cry don't you cry
For your lady and me

(Chorus twice)

↑

Fairport Convention
She moves through the fair (What we did on our holidays)
By Marcel Veltman

Who can say something sensible about the origin of this song? Many people believe it is a
mediaeval traditional, but problably it was made up somewhere in the 19th century just to
sound like one. There are even rumours that it is a complete hoax, brought into being by
a young American named Randy Newman, long before he himself outfamed this song and
everyone who ever sang it. If this is true, he never claimed the joke, nor the royalties
when The Simple Minds took the melody for their mega-selling hitsingle 'Belfast Child'

D, C, G, D, 

D          
My young love said to me
    C            D 
My mother don't mind

And my father won't sligh you
     C            D
For your lack of kind 
         C             D
And she laid her hand on me
     C               Am
And this is she did say
    C                D
It will not be long love
      C           D
Till our wedding day
 
D, C, Am, C, D, C, G, D

And she went away from me
She moves through the fair
And fondly I watched her
Move here and move there
And then she went homeward
Only one star awake
Like a swan in the evening
Moves over the lake

Last night she came to me
My dead love came in
So softly she came
That her feet made no din
And she laid her hand on me
And this she did say
Oh, it will not be long love
Till our wedding day

↑

Polly on the Shore
Fairport Convention (Nine)
By Marcel Veltman

How many British folk traditionals are there about that promising young man who becomes
a pirate and then leads a short and wretched life before suffering a cruel death? This is
one of them. I could only figure out the basic chords, however, and not the beautifull
guitar part as it was played by Jerry Donahue on the original recording. 

      C       G          Am
Come all you wild young men
       C       F       G
And a warning take by lead
 C      F        C/d          G
Never lead your single life astray
    C        G    Am
Or into bad company

As I myself have done
Being all in the month of may
When I was pressed by a sea captain
A privateer to tray

To the East Indies we were bound
To plunder the region main
And it's many a brave and a gally and ship
We sent to a watery grave

Off a freeport we did steer
Our provisions to renew
When we did spy a bold man of war
sailing three feet toward too
 
And she fired in cross our bow
Heave through and don't refuse
Surrender now into our command
Or else your lives you'll lose

And our decks they were splattered with blood
And our canons did loudly roar
And broadside and broadside a long time we laid
Until we could fire no more
          C               D              G
  And a thousand times I quested myself again
           C          G            Am
  For the love of me Polly on the shore

(Instrumental break. Ominous sounds by Jerry on the Tele, Swarb' on the strings and Pegg
on the bass, with a slow and steady basis laid bij Dave the drums and Trevor on acoustic.
Do try this at home)

She's a tall and a slender girl
With a dark and a golden eye
And here am I am bleeding on the deck
And for us we say must lie

And farewell me family and friends
Likewise my Polly too
I would never have sailed the salt sea wide
If I had been ruled by you
  And a thousand times I saw myself again
  For the love of me Polly on the shore

↑

Fairport Convention
Nottamun Town (What we did on our holydays)
By Marcel Veltman

Strange lyrics, apparently based on Jeronymus Bosch's painting 'The last ordeal'. Run a
search on the web, and you'll land on a homepage of paganists, who consider it a sacred
text. You will also find that their version is longer. It is dead simple, just strum Dm
all the way through. This if you have a band around. Doing it on my own, I keep a drone
going by lightly striking a bass of A, and ad some spice pulling off and hammering on the
A note on the third string on alternating measures. I rest three measures while singing a
capella between ( and ), do the intro, the in betweens and the outro with a Dsus4, Dm,
Dsus2 to Dm sequence and finish the song off with the Dm bent high for an eerie effect.
If this not raises the spirits of the earth, find someone familiar with DADGAD tuning for
some soloing.

Dm, Dsus4, Dm, Dsus2, Dm, Dm/A 

Dm
In Nottamun town not a soul would look up
Not a soul would look up, not a soul would look down
Not a soul would look up, not a soul would look down
     (                              )Dm
To show me the way to fair Nottamun town

And the king and the queen and the company more
Came walking behind and a riding before
Come a stark naked drummer beating a drum
With his hand on his bosom came riding along

Sat down on a hard hot cold frozen stone
Ten thousand stood round me but I was alone
Took my heart in my hand to keep myself warm
Ten thousand was drowned that never was born

(Instrumental part)

(Repeat first verse)

↑

Fairport Convention
Matty Groves (Liege and Lief)
By Marcel Veltman

The first time I ever surfed along this and other guitar sites, it was in search of this
particular song. I have been singing it for twenty five years and when I decided to teach
myself to play, I wanted to see if I could learn the chords. But alas, they were not
there. Probably because they're so dead obvious, no one ever bothered to write them down.
This is how it was played on the record, but chances are that you don't have a Sandy
Danny around to do the vocals. For me, the song is best sung in Bm, so I put the capo on
the second fret and do the fingersettings as decribed between ( ). This also creates the
possibility to put in a nice Celtic drone.

Dm
A holiday, a holyday
                      F
The first one of the year
                        C
Lord Arlen's wife came into the church
      Am           Dm
The gospel for to hear

(Am)
And when the meeting it was done
                    (C)
She cast her eyes about
                         (G) 
And there she saw little Matty Groves
 (Em)           (Am) 
Walking in the crowd

Come home with me little Matty Groves
Come home with me tonight
Come home with me little Matty Groves
And sleep with me tonight

Он, I can't come home, I won't come home
And sleep with you tonight
By the rings on your fingers I can tell
You are Lord Arlen's wife

'T is true I am lord Arlen's wife
Lord Arlen's not at home
He is out to the far corn fields
Bringing the yearlings home

And the servant who was standing by
And hearing what was said
He swore Lord Arlen he would know
Before the sun would set

And in his hurry to carry the news
He filled his breast and ran
And when he came to the broad mill stream
He took off his shoes and swam

Little Matty Groves, he laid down
And took a little sleep
When he awoke Lord Arlen
Was standing at his feet

Saying how do you like my feather bed
And how do you like my sheets
And how do you like my lady
Who lies in your arms to sleep

О well I like your feather bed
And well I like your sheets
But better I like your lady maid
Who lies in my arms to sleep

Well get up get up Lord Arlen cried
Get up as quick as you can
It'll never be said in fair England
I slew a naked man

Он I won't get up I won't getup
I can't get up for my life
For you have two long beating swords
And have not a pocket knife

Well it's true I have two beating swords
They cost me deep in the purse
But you will have the better of them
And I will have the worst

And you will strikke the very first blow
And strike it like a man
And I will strike the very next blow
And hit you if I can

So Matty struck the very first blow
But struck Lord Arlen's sword
Lord Arlen struck the very next blow
And Matty struck no more

And the Lord Arlen he took his wife
And he sat her on his knee
Saying who do like the best of us
Matty groves or me

And then up spoke his own dear wife
Never heard het speak so free
I'd rather get a kiss from dead Matty's lips
Than you and your finery

Lord Arlen he jumped up
And loudly he did bawl
He stuck his wife right through the heart
And pinned her against the wall

A grave a grave Lord Arlen cried
To put these lovers in
But bury my lady at the top
For she was of noble kin.

↑

#----------------------------------PLEASE NOTE---------------------------------#
#This file is the author's own work and represents their interpretation of the #
#song. You may only use this file for private study, scholarship, or research. #
#------------------------------------------------------------------------------##
Date: Mon, 26 Jun 1995 18:34:09 +0100 (BST)
From: R P Kent 
Subject: TAB: End of a Holiday by Fairport Convention

Title:              End of a Holiday
Artist:             Fairport Convention
Writer:             Simon Nicol
Trans:              Richard Kent    r.p.kent@dur.ac.uk

Here's an excellent acoustic tune from the late sixties. Even if you've
never heard it before its easy to play and sounds great.. It has a
moderate tempo. Excuse the Emin9 Emaj9 nonsense, I couldn't remember
which chord it was meant to be....

   Emin9
e|--------------------------------|---------------------------------|
B|--------------------------------|-3-----------3-------5---3-------|
G|----------------------------0---|---------0-----------------------|
D|------------------------4-------|-----4-----------4-----------0---|
A|--------------------------------|-2-----------2-----------2-------|
E|--------------------------------|---------------------------------|
   ^      ^       ^       ^         ^       ^       ^       ^

   C                                Emin9
e|--------------------------------|---------------------------------|
B|-3----------1-------0---1-------|-3-----------3-------5---3-------|
G|-----0--------------------------|---------0-----------------------|
D|--------2-------2-----------0---|-----4-----------4-----------0---|
A|-3----------3-----------3-------|-2-----------2-----------2-------|
E|--------------------------------|---------------------------------|
   ^      ^       ^       ^         ^       ^       ^       ^


   C                                Am          G
e|-------------0------------------|---------------------------------|
B|-1---------------1-------1------|-----1-------------------0-------|
G|-----0--------------------------|-2-------2---0-------2-----------|
D|---------2-----------2----------|---------2-------0-----------0---|
A|-3--------------------------2---|-0-------------------------------|
E|--------------------------------|-------------3-----------3-------|
   ^       ^       ^       ^        ^       ^       ^       ^

   Em          D                    C           Emin9
e|-3-----------2-------3---2------|-0-------------------------------|
B|---------5----------------------|---------1---3-------------------|
G|-----4-----------2----------2---|-----0---------------4---5-------|
D|-------------0-----------0------|-----------------4-----------4---|
A|--------------------------------|-3-----------2-------------------|
E|-0------------------------------|---------------------------------|
   ^       ^       ^       ^        ^       ^       ^       ^

   D                                Emin9
e|-------------2-----------2------|---------------------------------|
B|-3-------3-----------3----------|-3-----------3-------5---3-------|
G|-----2-----------2--------------|---------0-----------------------|
D|-0-----------0-----------0--0---|-----4-----------4-----------0---|
A|--------------------------------|-2-----------2-----------2-------|
E|--------------------------------|---------------------------------|
   ^       ^       ^       ^        ^       ^       ^       ^

   C                                Emin9
e|--------------------------------|---------------------------------|
B|-3----------1-------0---1-------|-3-h-5---3---------------3-------|
G|-----0--------------------------|-------------4-------5-----------|
D|--------2-------2-----------0---|-----------------4-----------0---|
A|-3----------3-----------3-------|-2-------2-----------------------|
E|--------------------------------|---------------------------------|
   ^      ^       ^       ^         ^       ^       ^       ^

   C                                Am          G
e|-------------3-p-0--------------|---------------------------------|
B|-1-----------1-----------1------|-----1-------------------0-------|
G|-----0--------------------------|-2-------2---0-------2-----------|
D|---------2-----------2----------|---------2-------0-----------0---|
A|-3--------------------------2---|-0-------------------------------|
E|--------------------------------|-------------3-----------3-------|
   ^       ^       ^       ^        ^       ^       ^       ^


   Em          D                    C           Emin9
e|-3-----------2-------3---2------|-0-------------------------------|
B|---------5----------------------|---------1---3-------------------|
G|-----4-----------2----------2---|-----0---------------4---5-------|
D|-------------0-----------0------|-----------------4-----------4---|
A|--------------------------------|-3-----------2-------------------|
E|-0------------------------------|---------------------------------|
   ^       ^       ^       ^        ^       ^       ^       ^

   D
e|-------------2--------------0---|-2-----------2-------3---2-------|
B|-3-------3-----------3---3------|---------3-----------------------|
G|-----2-----------2--------------|-----2-----------2-----------0---|
D|-0-----------0-----------0--0---|-0-----------0-----------0-------|
A|--------------------------------|---------------------------------|
E|--------------------------------|---------------------------------|
   ^       ^       ^       ^        ^       ^       ^       ^


               C                    Emaj9
e|-2-----------0-----------0------|---------------------------------|
B|-----1---------------3----------|-3-----------3-------5---3-------|
G|---------0-------0--------------|---------0-----------------------|
D|-----------------------------0--|-----4-----------4-----------0---|
A|-------------3-----------3------|-2-----------2-----------2-------|
E|--------------------------------|---------------------------------|
   ^       ^       ^       ^        ^       ^       ^       ^


   C                                Em              D
e|-------------3-p-0--------------|-3---------------2---------------|
B|-1-----------------------1------|---------5---------------3-------|
G|-----0--------------------------|-----4-------4-------2-------2---|
D|---------2-----------2-------0--|-----------------0---------------|
A|-3------------------------------|---------------------------------|
E|--------------------------------|-0-------------------------------|
   ^       ^       ^       ^        ^       ^       ^       ^

   C           Emaj9                Am
e|-0------------------------------|---------------------------------|
B|---------1---3------------------|-3-p-1---------------------------|
G|-----0---------------4---5------|---------2-----------0---2-------|
D|-----------------4-----------0--|-------------2---s4----------0---|
A|-3-----------2------------------|-0-------------------------------|
E|--------------------------------|---------------------------------|
   ^       ^       ^       ^        ^       ^       ^       ^

   Gadd9
e|-----------------3--------------||
B|-------------0------------------||
G|---------2----------------------||
D|-----0--------------------------||
A|--------------------------------||
E|-3------------------------------||
   ^       ^       ^       ^

CHORD USED
==========

      Emaj9
   ===========
   | | | | | |
   +-+-+-+-+-+
   | 1 | | | |
   +-+-+-+-+-+
    | | | 2 |
   +-+-+-+-+-+
   | | 3 | | |
   +-+-+-+-+-+


************************************************************************
*  Rich Kent; email r.p.kent@dur.ac.uk ;  http://www.dur.ac.uk/~d213ga *
************************************************************************

↑

INTRO: Am - C - G - Dm - Am - Em - Am - Em  
 
 Am            C          G        Em  
Within the park and оut uроn the sea 
 Am           G             Am  
Crazy Man Michael was walking 
 Am               C            G        Em  
He met with a raven with eyes black as соаls 
      Am             G        Am  
And shоrtlу they fell a talking 
       Em                   Am    
Уоur future, уоur future I will tell tо уоu 
       Em                      G  
Уоur future уоu оftеn have asked me 
       Am               G             Am     Em  
Уоur true lоvе will die by уоur оwn right hand 
      Am          G              Am  
And Crazy Man Michael will cursed be 
 
             C            G         Em  
Michael he ranted and Michael he raved 
      Am              G              Am  
And beat the fоur winds with his fists о 
                    C          G             Em  
He laughed and he cried he shоuted and he swоrе 
          Am             G                  Am  
Fоr his mad mind had trapped him with a curse-о 
      Em                        Am  
Уоu speak with an evil, уоu speak with a hate 
      Em                         G  
Уоu speak fоr the devil that haunts me 
       Am              G           Am          Em  
Fоr is she nоt the fairest in all the brоаd land 
       Am           G              Am  
Уоur sоrсеrеr's wоrds are tо taunt me.
 
Am  -  C  -  G  -  Dm  -  Am  -  Em  -  Am  -  Em  
 
    Am             C           G         Em  
He tооk оut his dagger оf fire and оf steel 
      Am                G                 Am  
And struck dоwn the raven thrоugh the heart-о 
                     C              G        Em  
The bird fluttered lоng and the sky it did spin 
          Am               G          Am  
And the соld earth did wоndеr and stare-о 
     Em                       Am  
Oh where is the raven that I struck dоwn dead 
       Em                    G  
That here did lie оn the grоund-о 
    Am            G                  Am   Em  
I see that my true lоvе with a wоund sо red 
            Am        G              Am  
Where her lоvеr's heart it did роund-о 
 
            C            G          Em  
Crazy Man Michael he wanders and calls 
      Am             G            Am  
And talks tо the night and the day-о 
                        C              G           Em  
But his eyes they are sane and his speech it is plain 
         Am            G    Am  
And he lоngs tо be far away-о 
  Em                        Am  
Michael he whistles the simplest оf tunes 
      Em                         G  
And asks the wild rоsеs their раrdоn 
          Am             G            Am         Em  
Fоr his true lоvе is flоwn intо every flоwеr grоwn 
     Am            G               Am  
And he must be keeper оf the garden

↑