Murder Ballad Monday--Grausame Schwester (German)

Hello and welcome to part nineteen of Murder Ballad Monday.

For the last few weeks we have been exploring non-English versions of the traditional murder ballad The Twa Sisters. We have seen two Norwegian versions and one Swedish version of the song and today we are going to look at a German version entitled Grausame Schwester by a folk metal band called Subway to Sally. They are a heavy metal band that uses folk instruments like the lute, bagpipes, violin and hurdy-gurdy. While the Scandinavian versions were sung in the style of a traditional ballad, this one is not. I will be honest and say if I had not read the lyrics I would have never guessed it was a version of the Twa Sisters, but it most definitely is.  It is also only one of two that I have found that do not feature a refrain. 

If you would like to see the lyrics in German you can go here:

http://lyricstranslate.com/en/grausame-schwester-cruel-sister.html

It is fairly melodramatic with lines like 

Jealousy gnawed at her day and night,

she wished that the beautiful one would lie in a grave

and they wept themselves blind, so lachrymose was the tune 

and the final over-the top lines:

Oh cruel sister, what have you done,

the girl killed in feverish madness

With envy in the heart, with malice in the gut

Hell now awaits, they will kill you too!

This is a live version of the song sung at some sort of huge metal fest, but it is amazing how the crowd responds to the traditional lyrics (even if the music is anything but traditional). Watch the version by Subway to Sally here:

Here's how it breaks down compared to other versions:

Name of ballad: Grausame Schwester

Performed by:  Subway to Sally

Refrain: none

Number of sisters: two

Where did they live: in the north by the sea

Appearance described as: One was of a bright and beautiful figure, the older, however, was dark and cold.

 Sweetheart:  none mentioned

Excuse to go to the water: none given, but it was a day that the winds blew strong
Body of water: seashore

Does it contain the line “Sometimes she sank, sometimes she swam”: no

Miller and child: no

Mistaken for: n/a

Described in death: n/a

Who finds her on the bank: two musicians 

Instrument she becomes: harp

Body parts used: hair and leg

Would her song “melt a heart of stone”: no, it was a song like a scream

Do the strings sing individually: no

What does the instrument sing: it revealed the name of the murderer

Is the sister punished: yes I would think so with a last line that says Hell now awaits, they will kill you too!

Here are the lyrics if you would to follow along.

Cruel Sister

There lived a woman in the north by the sea,

long ago, she bore two daughters

One was of a bright and beautiful figure,

the older, however, was dark and cold.

Jealousy gnawed at her day and night,

she wished that the beautiful one would lie in a grave,

and then one day, as the wind blew strong,

she pushed her sister from the cliff down into the sea

The wind and the waves, they roar and cry,

far above the cliffs, far above the rocks.

But through the wind and the waves a sound penetrates

the voice of a girl, a song like a scream

Two musicians went down to the windy beach,

they found the lifeless body in the sand,

they took her hair, they took her leg,

they built a harp, to free the song

On the windy beach, when they began to play

they wept themselves blind

so lachrymose was the tune, as it softly

revealed the name of the murderer

The wind and the waves, they roar and cry,

far above the cliffs, far above the rocks.

But through the wind and the waves penetrates a sound

the voice of a girl

Oh cruel sister, what have you done,

the girl killed in feverish madness

With envy in the heart, with malice in the gut

Hell now awaits, they will kill you too!

So, that’s it for version nineteen of The Twa Sisters. Stay tuned next Monday for version twenty.

Odd (Day) Out

Well, hello! We had the most spectacular "Odd Day Out" today and I wanted to share our fun with everyone.

So why was it "Odd"?

Well, for starters we had to go the "big city" AKA Cardiff on the train. It is two hours from where we live in Carmarthen and so we don't do it very often. it has to be something. *special*. This was special.

Also we were going to have a slap up meal at a restaurant, something we only do once in blue moon. So that was a treat to look forward to.

So why were we venturing to Cardiff, I hear you cry? For the Cardiff Children's Literature Festival, of course! It was being held at Cardiff Castle, so we got free admittance to the castle (saving us £12.50 each!) with our ticket to see the event. So who were we going to see? I know you are dying to know so......drumroll please...

                                   

OK, you may not know him by name. But you should. And you will after this. He is a children's book writer and illustrator extraordinaire and all round nice bloke.

So as that chirpy Julie Andrew's song goes....Let's start at the very beginning...a very good place to start. 

We left Carmarthen station around 10 and settled in for the two hour train ride. Spiderman had his book and I had my i-pod and we spent the entire train ride pretending to be these two cockatoos and giggling.

We arrived at the big city and had a quick alfresco lunch courtesy of M&S and then wandered to the castle. As I said earlier, we got into the castle for free (AM DDIM!) so we wandered the lovely grounds soaking in the (rare) Welsh sunshine. At 2pm, we were admitted into the "Undercroft" which was a slightly musty, rather echo-y, dimly lit underground room with a whole gaggle of munchkins.

As per usual, we were the only adults without kids, but that never matters to us. We had as good of a time (dare I say even better?) than the kiddos there. The set-up was well thought out--hard chairs for the grown ups and lots of scatter cushions on the floor for the children to lounge about on.

Now a bit about Rob Biddulph. We love his books. Especially this one.
                                     

I mean, who doesn't love sausage dogs, right?

So he started by showing a slide show that as a grown up (but a kid at heart) I found fascinating. He talked about himself as a child and how he loved to draw. He showed some of his early illustrations. He took his favourite book characters and wrote new adventures for them and then stapled the paper together to make it a "proper" book. Me too! I wanted to shout. I did that, too! My early years were consumed with writing books about Dorothy Gale and her comrades in Oz.

He then did a directed drawing for the kids. I wanted to do too, but the lady handing out the clipboard with the paper and pencil wouldn't hand one to me because I didn't have a child with me. Hrumph. My inner child would have liked one, thank you very much. Anyway, he helped them draw the bear from his terrific book GRRRRR! Then he read it aloud with audience participation on the growling bits!!!
                                        

Then he taught us some useful pirate phrases and he read us from his book Sunk starring our old friend Penguin Blue and a host of other animals.

                                           

Can I just say there were some *excellent* pirate-y jokes. Someone (Cough! Cough! not naming names here) thought they were terrible...but what does he know? he never laughs at Christmas cracker jokes or the Panto. Are you ready?

Q: What is a Pirate's favourite letter of the alphabet?
A: Arrrrrrrrr!
Boom Boom!

And the captain of the sunken pirate vessel was called Walker Plank which made me squeal with laughter and made Rob Biddulph glance over in my direction.

Anyway, the talk was excellent and after we queued so he could sign our books. He was so generous and signed it with a beautiful flourish of his fountain pen despite being left handed (How does he do that??? All a fountain pen gives me is a smeary blob of ink!)

He even drew us a sausage dog hula-hooping! 

I had made him a gift as well. It had started as an idea for a badge, but the dog was so long I couldn't make it work, so it morphed into a "thing you can hang up."

He seemed genuinely touched by it and said he would hang it in his studio! 

After our lovely encounter with a wonderful illustrator, we toddled on to Zizzi where we had gluten free pizza with vegan mozzarella cheese followed by vegan coconut and chocolate swirl gelato which was lush. It was such a treat to get a meal and a pudding in a restaurant! 

Then we waddled back to the train station and took the 6pm train back home. On the way, just as we were arriving back into Carmarthen, the sky was the most breathtaking shades of pink and lavender. 

It truly was the perfect end to a perfect day. Nothing odd about that. 

What We Ate Wednesday--Belazu Sweet potatoes, caramelised onions and raisins with chickpeas

Hello lovelies! This is a continuation of the meals we had last week with sweet potatoes. It is adapted from a recipe off the back of a box of Belazu Barley Couscous.  While I cannot tolerate wheat, I can still tolerate barley, oats, spelt and rye in small doses. We used to buy this couscous all the time when we lived in England because couscous cooks in four minutes and is a great staple to have on hand. Unfortunately, we cannot find barley couscous in Wales so I have had to substitute.

But no worries. Adopt, Adapt and Improve is my motto. If you can eat wheat, just use regular couscous for this recipe. if you can find barley couscous, then by all means use it as it has a lovely nutty flavour. If you need it Gluten free then use unroasted buckwheat groats. It cooks quickly and had a similar texture to couscous. Don't get KASHA which is roasted buckwheat groats.

The original recipe was just for caramelised onions cooked in a sweet syrup with raisins and pinenuts. I knew I could make it more of a meal by adding chickpeas and roasted sweet potato and cutting back on the "butter" and eliminating the pinenuts as they are frightfully expensive (150g for £3.85 at Tesco!!) It still comes out plenty sweet and rich and decadent my way.

Adapted Belazu Sweet potatoes, caramelised onions and raisins with chickpeas

Preheat your oven to 200C/400F

For roasting:
1-2 medium sweet potatoes, diced
half of a red pepper 
(I am not using oil here to roast as there are 2 TB non dairy butter in the other part of the recipe and that is enough fat for us. But do what you like)
For cooking:
2 white onions, thinly sliced into rainbows
1/3 cup raisins
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp turmeric
2 TB dairy free butter
3TB liquid sweetener like maple syrup, agave or golden syrup.  
half a cup (125ml) water 
1 tin of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
When you put the sweet potato and pepper in to roast then start the stove top action.
Roast for 15 minutes, remove from oven and stir and then roast for 15 more minutes.

Stove top action:
1.Add everything above except the chickpeas and bring to the boil and then simmer with the lid on until the onions are soft and golden. if it looks like it is drying out then add a splash more water.
2. Closer to the end of the roasting time cook your grain.
If you are making couscous:
Decide how much couscous you are making.  Add the juice of half a lemon and a small clove of smashed garlic to the boiling water and add the couscous according to the package directions. Cover and let stand for four minutes then fluff with a fork.
If you are using buckwheat groats:
Decide how much you are making and follow the instructions for cooking it. My container says rinse thoroughly, add groats to cold water and bring to the boil and then simmer for six minutes. I like to rinse them after they cook as they can have a bit of scum on them. Then I pop them back in the hot pan to reheat them with the juice of half a lemon and the small clove of smashed garlic.

When the veg are roasted, add them with the chickpeas to the onion mixture. Serve over couscous or buckwheat or whatever grain you choose. We ended up mixing our buckwheat groats into the onion vegetable mixture just to make it easier. I also felt it needed a hint more sweetness, so I added a drizzle of golden syrup before serving.

This is sweet and a savoury at the same time. The lemon and garlic add a nice contrast to the sweetness of the syrupy onions and sweet potato, so don't leave them out. Or do leave them out. this is totally your call. Just make it!

Murder Ballad Monday --De två systrarna (Swedish)

Hello and welcome to part eighteen of Murder Ballad Monday.

For the last two weeks we have explored Norwegian versions of the traditional ballad The Twa Sisters. This week, I would like to share a Swedish version called De två systrarna by the band Folk och Rackare.

 

If you think back to part six of Murder Ballad Monday, I shared a version by the band Malinky in traditional Scots that had been translated from a Swedish version. You can refresh your memory here:

http://spidergrrlvstheworld.blogspot.co.uk/2017/01/murder-ballad-monday-twa-sisters.html

This is the Swedish version of that Ballad! It is unusual in that we really see a great deal more sibling rivalry than in other versions. This version has the beautiful sister taunt the uglier one with words like, “Even if you wash yourself both day and night, You'll never be as white as me.” It’s no wonder that she pushed her in.

 It is also unusual in that her breasts are used as decorations on the harp. Perhaps this is just a misstranslation of breastbone. I was also pleased to see that this version definitely has the sister punished. Many allude to it, some have her get off scot-free, but this one says she was "burnt in ashes and death." Also, it puzzles me that a fiddler finds her body but she is made into a harp. This is definitely a translation issue as the word used in the song simply means “folk musician.” I have included the lyrics below translated into English and they contain several footnotes to help explain some particular Swedish phrases. If you want to read the lyrics in Swedish with a side by side translation into English go here: http://lyricstranslate.com/en/de-tv%C3%A5-systrarna-two-sisters.html

This Swedish version by Folk och Rackare follows the same tune that Malinky used in their Scots translation so I suspect this was the version they heard. Listen to the Swedish version here:

How it breaks down compared to other versions:

Name of ballad: De två systrarna

Performed by:  Folk och Rackare

Refrain:

Blowing cold cold weather over the sea

Blowing cold cold weather over the sea

Number of sisters: two

Where did they live: by the seashore

Appearance described as: One of them was as white as the bright sun, the other was black as the blackest coal

 Sweetheart:  not named, just called her fiancé

Excuse to go to the water:  none given
Body of water: seashore

Does it contain the line “Sometimes she sank, sometimes she swam”: no

Miller and child: no

Mistaken for: n/a

Described in death: n/a

Who finds her on the bank: folk musician (translated here as fiddler)

Instrument she becomes: harp

Body parts used: golden hair, small fingers, snow white breasts

Would her song “melt a heart of stone”: no

Do the strings sing individually: no

What does the instrument sing: the bride has stolen my sweetheart

Is the sister punished: yes--On Sunday she sat in a bridechair red, On Monday she was burnt in ashes and death

 Here are the lyrics if you would like to follow along. I have eliminated the refrain so that it won’t be so long.

The two sisters

There lived a farmer by the seashore

(There's) Blowing cold cold weather1over the sea

And two daughters he had

Blowing cold cold weather over the sea

One of them was as white as the bright sun

The other was black as the blackest coal

We both wash ourselves in the water now

So I will most likely become as white as you

Even if you wash yourself both day and night

You'll never be as white as me

And as they stood there on the seashore

The ugliest of them pushed her sister off from land

You, my dear sister, help me up to land

And then I will give you my sweetheart

Your fiancé, I will get him anyway

But you'll never wander upon the green earth again

There lived a fiddler2by the shore

He looked into the water where the body floated

The fiddler carried her onto the shore

And of her he made a sweet harp

The fiddler took her golden hair

And built harp strings from it

The fiddler took her small fingers

And decorated the harp with them3

The fiddler took her snow white breasts

And the harp she rang with a lovely tone

And the harp was carried to the wedding spot

Where the bride was dancing with ribbons in the hair

And three strokes on the golden harp was played

That bride has stolen my sweetheart

On Sunday she sat in a bridechair red

On Monday she was burnt in ashes and death

1.I'm not sure if you're able say that the weather is blowing in English, but to replace weather with wind wouldn't suffice, since they mean that the whole weather condition is moving over the sea

2."Speleman", or nowdays "Spelman", is a Swedish folk musician. I chose to translate it into "fiddler" for two reasons. 1. There's an extremely high probability that he was a fiddler, since I'm guessing this story took place in a time when the violin dominated the Swedish folk music and 2. It gives a better flow to the lyrics

3.This is a tricky one. To "tappla" is to finger on something but it's not used as a verb here; instead it is used as a noun so it would make the most sense that he decorates the harp with the fingers. If someone has another idea they're welcome to share it.

 So, that’s it for version eightteen of The Twa Sisters. Stay tuned next Monday for version nineteen.

What We Ate Wednesday--Roasted Cajun Corn and Sweet Potato salad

Hello lovelies! Because I am a bit of an OCD organised freak, I have a recipe index where every recipe we've ever eaten and really liked is catalogued under subheadings by main ingredients as well as the cookbook/recipe binder where it can be found. It sounds like a lot of work (but it was truly a labour of love) and it makes things so much easier.

Case in point: this meal. We've been having lots of white potatoes recently as they have been on sale, but I wanted to change it up and have some sweet potatoes. So I looked in my recipe index under the words sweet potatoes to see what would be good to make this week as I was planning my menu for the next 7 days. Yes, of course I make a menu! Did I not already mention that I was an OCD organised freak??  A menu is great idea --especially if you are on a budget like us--it prevents overspending because there is a list to follow when you shop. Yes, of course there is a list! In fact, there are multiple lists for multiple shops because I have another book that tells me where the best prices are in town, What part of OCD organised freak do you not understand???

Anyway...a 1kg bag of sweet potatoes containing 5-6 sweet potatoes costs me 95p at Tesco and I can make that go for three to four separate meals or I can make it go for a big soup that feeds us for two days and one additional meal. So this is where I need to decide which recipes I want to use, so I know the best way to divide up my taters.

I decided on the three meal approach this week by looking at recipes and seeing what we already had in the pantry that could be used for the meal. This recipe was an easy choice because it is really tasty, we haven't had it in a while so it will be a treat, and we already had most of the ingredients on hand. We always have frozen corn and I had recently cooked up a 500g bag of black eyed peas and portioned them off in my freezer into servings. I've always got spices and condiments like oil in stock, so I really just had to buy the vegetables and the pumpkin seeds.

This recipe is based on what we ate whilst on holiday in Chichester  many years ago. I noted down all the ingredients and figured out how to make it at home.

Roasted Cajun Corn and Sweet Potato Salad

Preheat your oven to 200C/400F.
In a large roasting tin combine the following:
1 small red onion, diced
half a chopped pepper
 1 tin black eyes peas, drained and  rinses and blotted dry
1-2 medium sweet potatoes, diced
1 cup frozen corn, defrosted in boiling water and blotted dry
1 TB oil
3 tsp Cajun spices
Marinade:
1.5 TB liquid sweetener (Maple syrup or agave would work. I used golden syrup)
zest and juice of half a lemon


1. Stir well to combine oil with the beans and vegetables then sprinkle on the spices.
2. You want to serve this over a grain so start it when you need it. I used easy cook brown rice that cooks in 25 minutes so I started it right before I put the roasting pan in the oven.
3. Roast for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and stir and add  1/4 cup (40g) pumpkin seeds and roast for another 15 minutes.
3.Remove from the oven and drizzle over the marinade of lemon juice and liquid sweetener.
4. Serve over a grain like rice or couscous or quinoa.

It is tangy and spicy and little bit sweet and 100% delicious.

Murder Ballad Monday--Harpa Toner (Norwegian)

Hello and welcome to part seventeen of Murder Ballad Monday.

Last week we looked at a Norwegian version of the ballad The Twa Sisters. This week, I would like to look at another Norwegian version by a band called L.E.A.F.

                       

While it is identical lyrically to last week’s version, the tune is slightly altered.

The refrain is:

Harp tones tender and fine.

(Humming)

The Norwegian version is unusual compared to the English language versions in the body parts that are used to make the instrument. English or Scottish version tend to use the fingers, the breastbone, and the hair whilst the Norwegian version uses the leg bones and the hair.   

If you’d like to see the Norwegian lyrics side by side with the English lyrics go here: http://lyricstranslate.com/en/harpa-harp.html

L.E.A.F. have a really lush sound with bells and chimes which puts me in mind of the Cocteau Twins. This version of Harper Toner features Oliver S. Tyr of the German band FAUN. Listen to it here:

  

Here’s how it breaks down compared to other versions: (same as last week)

Name of ballad: Harpa Toner

Performed by: Bergtatt

Refrain:

Harp tones tender and fine.

Fa la la la la la la la la la
Number of sisters: two

Where did they live:  by the shore

Appearance described as: The young one went forth like the sun,

The older lagged behind like a worm in the ground.

Sweetheart: Mentioned, but not named

Excuse to go to the water: “let us go down by the river”

Body of water: river

Does it contain the line “Sometimes she sank, sometimes she swam”: no

Miller and child: no

Mistaken for: n/a

Described in death: n/a

Who finds her on the bank: two shepherds

Instrument she becomes: harp

Body parts used: leg bone and two locks of hair

Would her song “melt a heart of stone”: no

Do the strings sing individually: yes

What does the instrument sing:
It told of the bride's evil deeds which caused the bride to stand frozen on the spot.

Is the sister punished: doesn’t say, but you presume so as her guilt is giving her away

Here are the lyrics in Norwegian if you would like to try to follow along.

 Det bodde en bonde ved en strand,

Harpa toner var og fin.

To fagre døtre hadde han.

Fa la la la la la la la la la

Den eldste til den yngre sa:

Harpa toner var og fin.

La oss ned til elven dra.

Fa la la la la la la la la la

Den yngste gikk føre som en sol,

Harpa toner var og fin.

Den eldste etter som orm i jord.

Fa la la la la la la la la la

Den yngste satte seg på en stein,

Harpa toner var og fin.

Den eldste dyttet, hun var ikke sein.

Fa la la la la la la la la la

Hun strakte ut sin hvite hand,

Harpa toner var og fin.

Og ropte søster hjelp meg iland.

Fa la la la la la la la la la

Hvis jeg ikke hjelper deg,

Harpa toner var og fin.

Så vil din kjæreste ekte meg.

Fa la la la la la la la la la

Det var to gjetere på den strand,

Harpa toner var og fin.

Og de så liket som fløt i land.

Fa la la la la la la la la la

De tok fra hennes kropp et ben,

Harpa toner var og fin.

Og lagde av det en harpe ven.

Fa la la la la la la la la la

De tok to lokker av hennes hår,

Harpa toner var og fin.

Og harpa gyldne strenger får.

Fa la la la la la la la la la

Til søsterens bryllup ble harpa bragt,

Harpa toner var og fin.

Og på en strubbe der ble den lagt.

Fa la la la la la la la la la

Det var senere på denne kveld,

Harpa toner var og fin.

At harpa spilte av seg selv.

Fa la la la la la la la la la

Da den første strengen lød,

Harpa toner var og fin.

Den fortalte om brudens onde dåd.

Fa la la la la la la la la la

Da den andre strengen slo,

Harpa toner var og fin.

Bruden som forstenet sto.

Fa la la la la la la la la la

So, that's it for for version seventeen of The Twa Sisters. Stay tuned next Monday for version eighteen.

What We Ate Wednesday--tangy roasted chickpeas and vegetables

Hello lovelies! OK....confession time. Last night we were *supposed* to have Cajun black eyed peas and kale over brown rice. But then, right around 5pm I discovered that I had already used the last of the kale and had forgotten to defrost the black eyed peas I had cooked earlier. So basically, all I had was brown rice.  Uh-oh.

But never fear. I looked around my well stocked kitchen and saw a tin of chickpeas. I can always do something with a tin of chickpeas. Roasting is the way to go. Chickpeas go all brown and chewy and delicious in the oven. Throw in some veg and rice and you have  meal.

So I adapted a recipe called Tamari Roasted Chickpeas from Dreena Burton's excellent cookbook Eat, Drink and Be Vegan. Her recipe just roasts chickpeas, but I roasted some vegetables I had in with the chickpeas and let me tell you...it was YUM.

Tangy Roasted Chickpeas and Vegetables

Preheat your oven to 200C/400F
In your biggest roasting tin add:
1 tin of chickpeas, drained and rinsed. 
1 chopped onion
half a chopped pepper  (I used a yellow one as that is what I had, but red would have been prettier)
a small carrot, cut into half moons (or use a half a carrot)
1.5 TB tamari or soy sauce
1.5 TB lemon juice (freshly squeezed is great, but i used lemon from a squeezy bottle and it was fine)
1 TB olive oil
A squidge of liquid sweetener (maybe a teaspoon?)
a good shake of dried rosemary
lots of grinds of pepper

1. Mix all that together until the marinade covers all the chickpeas and vegetables.
2. Roast for 12 minutes, then take the pan out and stir then roast 13 more minutes.
3. Meanwhile you should have been cooking your brown rice. I forgot to mention it. My rice takes approximately 25 minutes so I started it right before I put the chickpea/veg mixture in to roast.
4. Throw some frozen peas in to your cooked rice to add an extra vegetable and make it look pretty.

That's it. The chickpeas are all chewy and delicious and the flavour is tangy and savoury and yum.
It feeds two hungry people quite easily.

Happy eating!