Ivor Gurney’s ‘Carol of the Skiddaw Yowes’: An Appreciation Part II

Ivor Gurney composed his song ‘Carol of Skiddaw Yowes’ around Christmas 1919. The major event during May of that year had been the publication War’s Embers by Sidgwick and Jackson. In August, Gurney had submitted several poems to some important journals including The Century, The Athenæum, Harper’s Magazine, The New Witness and The Spectator. None were accepted. Almost as a consolation prize, he went on a walking holiday into the Welsh Black Mountains. He was accompanied by John Wilton Haines [J.W.H] who was to become the dedicatee of Gurney’s ‘Carol.’ Haines was a poet, solicitor and an amateur botanist living at Hucclecote, near Gloucester. He was acquainted with the Dymock Poets, including Robert Frost and Edward Thomas. After his holiday, Gurney moved to High Wycombe, where he was appointed organist at Christ Church, Crenden Street. He had held this position in 1914 before entering military service. George Walter’s chronology states that Gurney and F.W. Harvey visited the author and poet John Masefield at Boar’s Hill, Oxford during November.

Fig.1

The outstanding feature of Ivor Gurney’s setting of ‘Skiddaw Yowes’ is its subtle simplicity, reflecting the humble station of the shepherds. The song is ostensibly written in A minor: however, the melody is modal, which means that the notes F and G are ‘natural’ rather than ‘sharp.’ There is not a single accidental in the entire score. The vocal range is limited to the mid-range, extending from D’ to E”.  This makes it an ideal song for baritone or contralto singers. Gurney signed the music to be played ‘quasi andante’ which is a little ambiguous. It means ‘almost’ or ‘nearly’ moderately slow or ‘walking pace.’ In fact, the only recording of this song takes a slightly faster pace than this instruction implies.

The ‘Carol’ utilises the same melody for all three verses, with some slight variants demanded by the text. Metrically, the song is interesting. Largely written in 2/4 time, there is the occasional bar of 3/4 ‘waltz’ time. This invariably occurs at the end of the last line of each verse before reverting to the original time signature on the final syllable.

Fig.2

Typically, the melody moves by step and small ‘skips’, though there are two melodic intervals that stand out in the vocal line of each stanza. The opening anacrusis leap of a fourth (E-A) (Fig.1) and the haunting upward perfect fifth (G-D) at the end of the fourth line of each verse – e.g. ‘falling down’ (Fig.2). The melody then rises to the highest note, E which is reserved for the word ‘Jesu’ where it is sung on the first syllable falling by step onto the D for the second (Fig.2). This is heard in all three verses.

The Scotch Snap is a prominent feature of this song. It is used in several places, to accommodate words that can be sung with a short, followed by a long, syllable. For example, ‘Skiddaw’, ‘Redder,’ ‘Shepherds’ (Fig.1) and ‘Falling’ (Fig.2). This gives an attractive lilt, which is an important characteristic of this song.

The ‘Carol of Skiddaw Yowes’ is sung quietly with the dynamic never rising above mezzo-piano (mp). Each stanza ends pianissimo (pp). The accompaniment reflects the relatively simple nature of the song melody. This piano part is largely chordal, often based on parallel first inversion triads, supported by a rocking bass. Dissonance is mild with little beyond added 6^th and major 7^th chords. There are virtually no rests. 

Brief Bibliography:
Blevins, Pamela, Ivor Gurney and Marion Scott: Song of Pain & Beauty (Woodbridge: The Boydell Press, 2008)
Hold, Trevor, Parry to Finzi: Twenty English Song-Composers (Woodbridge, The Boydell Press, 2002)
Lancaster, Philip, ‘Ivor Gurney: Catalogue of Musical Works’, The Ivor Gurney Society Journal, (IGSJ) Volume 12, 2006.
Pilkington, Michael, Gurney, Ireland, Quilter and Warlock in the English Solo Song: Guides to the Repertoire (London, Thames Publishing, 1989)
Thornton, R.K.R. (editor), Ivor Gurney: Collected Letters (Manchester, Mid Northumberland Arts Group/Carcanet Press, 1991)
Walter, George, Chronology of Gurney’s Life and Work (http://www.geneva.edu/~dksmith/gurney/chronology.html) [Accessed 27/08/25]
The files of The Gramophone, Ivor Gurney Society Journal, etc

To be continued...

With thanks to the Ivor Gurney Society Journal, Volume 23, 2017 where this essay was first published.