A Song For Berrington

2019

Jul 3

A song that was woven into an interactive sculpture trail at the National Trust’s Berrington Hall site

About the work

Telling the story of Berrington’s hall and parkland through the eyes of two young staff members of old, the song was played on headsets as visitors followed a trail of sculptures through the vast grounds. The lyrical content reflected the history, the site, folklore and the sculptures on the 10-station trail.

How we made it

Working to a brief, Estelle drafted the lyrics by hooking into the content of the trail and the characters who inhabited Berrington Hall over the years.

Through conversation with the creative director, she honed the material to be seen through the eyes of a young maid and a stable boy as they escape from the strictures of their duties into the freedom of nature.

The lyrics were then handed on to the composer, Livi who created the music as a simple folk song then recorded it with Billy Lambert, another frequent Feral flyer.

The final song was delivered to Berrington Hall and continues to be accessible for visitors to the National Trust site.

Performances

Prerecorded track delivered by headsets as and when required from August 2019.

Crew

Lyrics – Estelle van Warmelo

Music – Livi van Warmelo

Cast

Vocals – Livi van Warmelo and Billy Lambert

Lyrics - SONG FOR BERRINGTON

I was but a scullery maid/ and me a scrawny carriage lad

We found our place at Berrington a-working for our keep

Once I saw a broken wheel abandoned by the curving drive/

It wasn’t me who snapped that spoke I ne’er would dare to slip!

I called for you to follow me from underneath the steps/

You tricked me from my station underground

I only came to hush you thinking then you’d let it be/

Sure, you never would have left your post unmanned.

You scrambled up to open air although there was no carriage there/

I tried to send you on your way lest some rich guest came by/

I hitched my skirts and stole your cap then ran off to the stable yard

The horses scoffed and stamped their heavy hooves when caught was I.

My mother used to say you have to hold a horseshoe right

Or all the luck would fall away, be lost/

I told you that was nonsense and you shouldn’t speak so daft/

And yet I spied you turn it as we left.

We tumbled down towards the lake our laughter ringing o’er the land/

Then in a beat you stayed my foot and held a racing breath -

A heron standing still as stone a sentinel as all alone

It paused in steady vigil at the silvery water’s edge

We watched - the regal bird awakens, leaning into flight

It spreads its wings and slowly beats a path

A low and languid crossing o’er the lake and off beyond

To the place where far off water meets the earth.

When all majestic trace was gone then you and I we ventured on/

Until we fell upon a bush of brambles in full fruit

I reached to pick the berries ripe/I told you ne’er to take a bite

‘ere faerie folk could taste the early harvest in the woods./

You said they’d catch my clothes and hair among the devil’s thorns/

You thought it must be time then to return

I teased you as a baby boy who never left the house/

So I declared we should walk further on.

My head held high my heart apace I marched toward that shadowed place/

But let me show (I said) you cannot know the hidden tracks

Despite the thicket’s tangles and the path a-wandering here and there/

I’m not afraid I know the way - and then I spied the fox.

Enchanted then, I gazed upon its rusty-golden fur,

I said ‘it fights its battles with its mind’/

And I could not abide the cur who steals away our fowl

No scraps left then for us once master’s dined.

Emerging from the darkened copse again our eyes were drawn above

A-spying for the gods (or lords!) a raven’s eagle eye

‘A harbinger of doom’ you feared and handed back my woollen cap

‘It sees us, knows it all’ you said ‘from its deathly perch on high’.

A veil of sadness fell across your rosy, bonny face,

You said you missed your mother’s voice, her song/

You took my hand when then I heard the whispers on the air,

Saying gently, ‘Tis the wind and nothing more’

Come on away, come on away to light and kinder, softer things,

You kept my hand in yours as silence fell about the land

And then you broke to run once more with joy renewed, your smile a-glow

Your heels kicked up - the garden in your sights – where you were bound.

You caught me by the nettles, teased me ‘pick one if you dare’/

‘I’m not so daft I don’t know that would sting!’/

You laughed and grasped it tightly saying ‘magic, don’t you know?

And the stories say they herald in the spring.’

‘I come to fetch the food for Cook but then I linger on a while,

The garden is my haven with its peace and quiet air,

I lift my face to feel the sun, imagine all the work is done

Imagine I have hands as soft as the tip-tail of a hare.’/

We lay upon the grass and watched the birds soar overhead

We wondered would tomorrow be as fair.

I wished a secret wish this day would never see an end

As our empty bellies seemed to bear no score.

Then once we broke our reverie and left the garden’s sanctuary

We stumbled o’er a thing that told a sad and sorry tale…

Beneath my lady’s boudoir lying broken in a grassy place

My lady’s fan! Forgotten as a promise made of lace.

You scooped it up, the shadows formed a pattern on your hand

You hid behind it, watching me askance/

I curtsied like a lady and you bowed then gave your arm -

A lordly pair, along the path we danced.

Come on away, come on away to wile a little time away,

There are no guests and Cook will have to wait a little more.

We’ll face her wrath and still be given bread along with hearty broth

Tonight you will be stationed ready for the carriage door.

We curl up as the pendant lying on my lady’s throat

An adder, coiled - sleeping on the ground.

A serpent will not die, they say, until the sun has set

And the day fades into silence all around.

And the day fades into silence all around…

SFX BIRDSONG crossfade to SILENCE

Estelle Van Warmelo