Try get some today!
About the song
Apple brandy is a topic of some importance for the hobbits on Laurelin. The drink has many uses: adding a bit of soothing warmth to yer tea, bringing a party alive… or cooling off yer fingers after a particularly vicious bout of lute strumming (old musician’s trick – at least if yer avoid licking the brandy off yer fingers). The trick is of course to pick the right cask, or yer will be in for a surprise.
Obviously, the drink needs a song, and here is one I wrote for Lone Bards Friday on February 12th. It is best sung to the melody of the traditional Scottish tune “The Yew Tree”, below in a version of The Battlefield Band.
Should yer want the lyrics to more of me songs, have a look in me songbook!
Lyrics: Grand Brandy Song
Far north in the Shire, where the winters are dire
Where the breeze cools you right to the bone
Where the young dress up warm to conform with the norm
And the gaffers all mutter and moan
There’s a need to feel tender and toasty
There’s a need for that warm soothing glow
So they boil and they brew, all the four seasons through
Always the hard liquor flow
The brandy is fine
Made from sweet apple wine
Once a lad from the moor sought to brandy procure
He had heard that the strong drink was tasty
So he went to a farm and he turned on his charm
But alas, his complexion was pasty
When they saw him, the children went hiding
All the dogs barked well into the night
And the farmer he said, ‘you look just like the dead
‘Scram and get out of my sight’
The brandy is fine
Made from sweet apple wine
The thirsty young lad felt dejected and sad
But his mind was still set on the drink
So he plotted and planned with his old lute in hand
‘I will sing ’til the old farmer blinks
‘In a matter of moments he’ll slumber
‘In a matter of minutes he’ll sleep
‘I will get to his still and my cup I will fill
‘Golden rewards I will reap’
The brandy is fine
Made from sweet apple wine
The lad by the fence, now feeling thirsty and tense
When he strummed out a chord filled with need
And that song full of yearn, made the old farmer turn
’til he went for a nap near the weed
So the laddie went into the farmstead
To the barn for his thirst to abate
He grabbed hold of a flask, then he picked up a cask
Ran from the farmer’s estate
The brandy is fine
Made from sweet apple wine
He hid in the wood, feeling elated and good
‘With my cunning there’s no way to stop me
‘I have had to work hard, but I got my reward
‘Now I’ll savour my first taste of brandy’
So he opened the cask with a hammer
And he drank with a yearning so deep
But he spluttered and coughed, cause that taste was just off
Juice from both turnip and neep
The brandy is fine
Made from sweet apple wine
The Yew Tree
Here is the original song, performed by The Battlefield Band. Enjoy!