This is number 36 - a little early to be wrapping things up, in fact,
as I have 14 more to do; although the grey cock in the folk song
referenced at the end ("the burning Thames I have to cross") does crow
somewhat prematurely. The Grey Cock is Child #248; there are versions
by Charlotte Greig (on a CD called "Night Visiting Songs") and Eliza
Carthy, amongst others.
The reference to Patriot Holding Pens comes directly from James
Kelman's "You have to be careful in the land of the free", which I'm
reading at the moment. The Patriot's Heart is a song by Mark Eitzel.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer more than half-finished his _Ethics_ whilst in
prison, but was executed before he could complete it. His letters and
papers from prison provide some of the background for "Christmas
Trees", one of Geoffrey Hill's best poems. One letter mentions a song
by Hugo Wolf, "Uebernacht, uebernacht", which could be described as a
night-visiting song (it is about how "joy and sorrow" are sent during
the night to test us). Hill strikes sparks off it elsewhere in
_Canaan_ ("Overnight - overnight - the inmost self made outcast").
Dominic
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