The Captain and his Whiskers
Three Quarter Time track 10
The Captain and his Whiskers was written in the 1820s by Thomas Haynes Bayly (author of The Mistletoe Bough and The Veteran, both of which entered the English folk tradition) and Sidney Nelson. It became a great favourite on the Confederate side during the American Civil War. Our version was collected in New Hampshire from Lena Bourne Fish, in 1941; we first heard it sung by Michelle Soinne and Andy Cheyne. The song’s tune also became popular in its own right - our arrangement starts with a version from Brackley in Northamptonshire, where it was used as a morris tune.
With
Toby Goss - clarinet
John Spiers - diatonic button accordion
Colin Fletcher - double bass.