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> June Tabor > Songs > The Month of January
> The Albion Christmas Band > Songs > The Month of January

(It Was in) The Month of January

[ Roud 175 ; Laws P20 ; Ballad Index LP20 ; trad.]

Paddie Bell sang It Was in the Month of January in 1965 on her LP Paddie—Herself.

Paddy Tunney sang The Month of January on his 1966 Topic album recorded by Bill Leader, The Irish Edge and on the anthology Tonight I'll Make You My Bride (The Voice of the People Series Volume 6; Topic 1998).

Sarah Makem sang It Was in the Month of January at home in Keady, Co. Armagh, in 1967 in a recording made by Bill Leader. This recording was published a year later on her Topic LP Ulster Ballad Singer. Sean O'Boyle commented in the album's liner notes:

This is Sarah Makem's greatest contribution to the annals of folksong. Here she treats with great sincerity of feeling one of the oldest themes in traditional song—the story of a young girl betrayed and abandoned by her wealthy lover and cast by cruel parents into the snow. It concludes with the usual warning: (See Joyce, Old Irish Folk Music and Songs [1909], p. 210):

Come all you pretty fair maids, a warning take by me
And never try to build your nest on top of a high tree;
For the leaves they will all wither and the branches all decay
And the beauties of a false young man will all soon fade away.

Herbert Hughes prints a fragmentary version of this song, called The Fanaid Grove, in Irish Country Songs, Vol. I [1909]. I know of no other folk song composed to the same melody—a beautiful example of a modified Soh Mode.

Frankie Armstrong sang The Month of January on her 1976 Topic LP Songs and Ballads. A.L. Lloyd commented in the album's liner notes:

Frankie finds this “one of the most beautiful of many songs of this kind, where the woman is left literally holding the baby while the errant father has gone off in search of fortune elsewhere.” Her version reproduces that of Sarah Makem, the fine Ulster Ballad Singer. There's a nice Donegal version called The Fanaid Grove, in Herbert Hughes's Irish Country Songs, Vol. 1, and in Joyce's Old Irish Folk Music and Songs is a fragmentary set sung by a reaper in a harvest field, containing the aromatic line: “My love is as sweet as the cinnamon tree.”

June Tabor sang The Month of January on her 1983 Topic LP Abyssinians and on her 1993 compilation Anthology. She cites Sarah Makem as her source.

Bob Fox sang In the Month of January in 2000 on his CD Dreams Never Leave You. He commented in his album notes:

One of the most beautiful melodies I've ever come across. The story is age old—the daughter of wealthy parents becomes pregnant to her poor lover who accepts a large bribe to disappear without trace!

I first heard Fiona Simpson of “Therapy” sing this; I believe it comes from the singing of Sarah Makem.

The Albion Christmas Band sang The Month of January in 2008 on their CD Snow on Snow.

Jon Boden sang In the Month of January as the January 10, 2011 entry of his project A Folk Song a Day.

Lyrics

June Tabor sings The Month of January

It was in the month of January, the hills all clad with snow,
It was over hills and valleys my true love he did go.
It was there I met a pretty young girl with a salt tear in her eye,
She had a baby in her arms and bitter she did cry.

“Oh, cruel was my father that he barred the door to me,
And cruel was my mother, that dreadful crime to see.
Cruel was my own true love that he changed his mind for gold,
And cruel was that winter's night that pierced my heart with cold.”

For the taller that the palm tree grows, oh, the sweeter is the bark,
And the fairer that a young man speaks, oh, the falser is his heart.
Oh, he'll kiss you and embrace you till he thinks he has you won;
Then he'll go away and leave you all for some other one.

So come all you pretty fair maids, and warning take by me,
Never try and build your nest at the top of a high tree,
For the green leaves they will wither and the branches all decay
And the beauty of a young man it soon will fade away.

Jon Boden sings In the Month of January

It was in the month of January, the hills all covered in snow,
It was over hills and valleys my true love he did go.
It was there I beheld a pretty fair maid with a salt tear in her eye,
She had a baby in her arms and bitterly she did cry.

“Oh, cruel was my father who he barred the door from me,
And cruel was my mother, that dreadful crime to see.
And cruel was my own true love to change his mind for gold,
And cruel was that winter's night that pierced my heart with cold.”

For the taller that the palm tree grows, the sweeter is the bark,
And the fairer that a young man speaks, the falser is his heart.
For, he'll kiss you and embrace you till he thinks he has you won;
Then he'll go away and leave you all for another one.

So come all fair and tender maids, and a warning take by me,
And never try and build your nest at the top of a tall tree,
For the green leaves they will wither and the branches seen decay
And the beauty of a fine young man will surely fade away.

Links

See also the Mudcat Café thread Lyr/Chords Req: Month of January.