The familiar Paul Simon version was “borrowed” from British folk legend Martin Carthy’s arrangement (not without hard feelings) as well as being transformed by another Carthy acquaintance, Bob Dylan, into Girl From the North Country. My favorite mystical interpretation is R. J. Stewart’s contention that the item being woven by the woman sitting by the head of the bed in certain versions of the Corpus Christi Carol (Down in Yon Forest) is in fact the aforementioned cambric shirt (that song, as a way of dealing with my Mother’s death, was the inspiration for my 2007 Christmas card.)
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- alex 5-07-2009 2:26 am