Author Archives: cow

Alistair Hulett interview

“I don’t think songs themselves can alter societies. It takes a movement to do that. It takes political engagement to do that. But songs have always been a part of those movements. They have always been the lifeblood and spirit of the movement.

There’s no political movement of the people that I can think of, that hasn’t produced a wealth of songs and those songs are usually made illegal by the power structure that they’re seeking to topple. So if they recognise that these songs have got power I think that’s a confirmation that we are right in that hunch.”


Alistair Hulett 1951-2010


https://ro.uow.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=&httpsredir=1&article=1002&context=unity

(2019) Sing ORFC

We’ve just come back from a delightful Oxford Real Farming Conference which is always a good way to start the year.

We hosted a singers circle of songs about land and farming, and Robin and Roo penned lyrics for a song that Darla Eno performed closing the conference.

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Sing ORFC
by Robin Grey and Roo Bramley
(to the tune of Sing Ovy Sing Ivy)

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Our Ruth and Colin had an idea (sing ovy, sing ivy)
To gather good folk from far and from near (sing holly go whistling ivy)

A place for enlightened ideas to grow
And host this whilst they schemed up the road

A few years did pass, the gathering grown
At Oxford Town Hall we found a new home

The answers here, new wisdom and old
A future for farming, our visions are bold

Good food produced with healthy soil
Fair wages paid to all those who toil

A seasonal harvest, the fat of the land
Godspeed to the plough and the watchful hand

In partnership with worms and with bees
Flourishing herds in pastures of green

The ministers and the media come
To find out about the things we have done

So here’s to the future in uncertain times
Let’s nurture the land with our children in mind

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(cc) This work is reproduced under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License

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New ‘support us’ page is now live

Over the years we’ve had a number of people expressed interest in being patrons of the show, so we are really happy to announce that we now have a ‘support us‘ page where you can make a one-off or monthly donation.

Much of our work is now happily paying us a living wage, but there are always projects which require subsidising, such as training up new apprentice performers, developing the Welsh show ‘Gadael Tir‘, starting to record material from the show and occasional gigs which aren’t able to cover our full performers fees in remoter places.

If you feel inspired and able to support us with money we are hugely grateful and promise that we will work ardently to make the most of your contribution.

http://threeacresandacow.co.uk/support-us

Kathleen, Pip, Roo and Georgie sing together in the final performance of the youth apprentice residency week

Jailed for protesting fracking

Last week a dear friend of ours was sent to prison for 16 months for a peaceful protest against fracking. Fracking is a reckless technique to get fossil fuels out of the ground which is banned in France, Holland and Ireland amongst others, which we often discuss in the show.

Please excuse the language, but this is a f*cking disgrace.

Please read his words about what happened here – https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/…/fracking-climate-change_…)

…and consider donating to the fund to support him and the others – https://chuffed.org/project/free-the-three#/

The Ascott Martyrs

Most people have heard of the Tolpuddle Martyrs but how many know about the Ascott Martyrs? These were 16 indomitable women of a little known village in Oxfordshire.

In 1873, 16 women of Ascott-under-Wychwood were sent to prison for the part they played in the founding of the Agricultural Workers Union. The newspaper in 1873 printed the story under the heading, “Rioting in Chipping Norton”.

Read more via
https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofEngland/Ascott-Martyrs/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ascott_Martyrs
https://www.ascottmartyrs.co.uk/