Dick Gaughan "Handful Of Earth" 1981****

I first came across mention of this album in the pages of the Mojo Ultimate Music Companion, a well-researched reference book mixing classic pop and rock albums with lesser known masterpieces. I later found out that it has won many accolades, but the decisive reason for my buying it was that it contains the definitive version of "World Turned Upside Down" a folk song modelled by Leon Rosselson on traditional English ballads. I first heard the Barracudas' version and I was blown away by the revolutionary lyrics and marching-band music. Not what I expected from a band usually singing about the joys of surfing and girls with mini-skirts. I've since heard many more versions (Gaughan, Oyster Band, Billy Bragg, Chubbawamba). The song immortalises the story of The Diggers, a small band of Utopian communists from 1649. Deriving their own message from The New Testament, they proclaimed that God created all human beings as equals (even women!), therefore the distinction between masters and servants was deeply un-Christian. They did not recognise private property, as they believed that land was bestowed to all humankind collectively to grow, protect (they were also proto-environmentalists) and share its fruits equally. So they set about commonly cultivating unused wasteland, living in communes and organising common meals open to all. This example found, predictably, little favour with the English ruling classes who managed to suppress and disperse them rather easily - being staunch pacifists committed to non-violence, they did not even fight back. But their ideas lived on, partially revived by Chartists and Anarchists in the 19th century, eloquently and emotionally immortalised in this truly inspirational song: "We work, we eat together/We need no swords/We will not bow to masters/Or pay rent to the lords/We are free men/Though we are poor/You Diggers all stand up for glory/Stand up now" (complete lyric here). Read more about the diggers' history here and here or, better yet, try the ultimate book on the subject, Christopher Hill's "The World Turned Upside Down" - same title as the song!

Dick Gaughan's "Handful of Earth" isn't an album you can easily find in your local record store or listen to the radio often. Yet it's won many distinctions in its time: Melody Maker's 1981 Album Of The Year, Folk & Root magazine's Folk Album Of The Decade etc. To be honest, it's not the kind of folk album that catches my attention, either. I'm partial to the richly orchestrated medieval prog/folk of The Strawbs and Pentangle and to the soothing female voices of Sandy Denny or The Unthanks. Gaughan sings his traditional ballads in a voice soft but masculine, with a strong Scottish accent. From the albums in my collection, the closest I can think of is Martin Carthy. His main instrument is the acoustic guitar. He's a dexterous player but doesn't get carried away soloing (except maybe in the instrumental "Scojun Waltz/Randers Hopsa"). He's discretely backed for a few songs by a small band (fiddle, bass, keyboard and whistle) but it's generally just vocal and acoustic guitar. "Handful of Earth" lyrically mixes the personal with the political, though the latter has the upper hand - a reaction to the recent election of Margaret Thatcher in government. Gaughan's ideology is a mix of old-school socialism and Scottish nationalism - though I should probably say Celtic instead of Scottish since, being a Gael with roots both in The Highlands and Ireland, he makes little distinction between Irish and Scottish Celts. Case in point is "Erin-Go-Bragh" ("Ireland forever" in Gaelic) the lively Celtic folk-rocker that opens the album. It's a 19th Century ballad about a Gael immigrant worker harassed by the British police. "World Turned Upside Down' is similarly a rousing and defiant rebel song about a band of 17th century Utopian communists and "Craigie Hill" is a nostalgic song about migration. According to the singer "it is concerned solely with the reasons for the forced migration and the heartbreak of leaving. It used to be common to hold wakes for those leaving as, to those left behind, it was exactly as if they had died". "Lough Erne" (A.k.a.The Rambling Irishman) is another Irish immigration song, but a more optimistic one. "Now Westlin’ Winds" is a poem by Scottish romantic poet Robert Burns set to an acoustic folk backing and "The Snows They Melt the Soonest" a soft and emotive lovesong. "Workers’ Song" is a singalong protest song with skillful acoustic guitar work, while the album closes with two wonderful ballads: "Song for Ireland" and "Both Sides the Tweed". The latter is a Scottish independence song hailing from 1707 a few words of which were altered by Gaughan who also added a new melody and some beautiful piano backing and blues guitar licks. It has since been widely covered and taken its place as a piece of Scottish cultural heritage.

***** for World Turned Upside Down, Both Sides the Tweed

**** for Erin-Go-Bragh, Now Westlin’ Winds, The Snows They Melt the Soonest, Song for Ireland, Workers’ Song

*** for Craigie Hill, Lough Erne/First Kiss at Parting, Scojun Waltz/Randers Hopsa