The Hill
12/19/21 • 30 min
As tonight’s full moon is shrouded by the fog that rolls down the hill and curls and drifts upon the water join us aboard the NB Erica as we fall once more in love with the commonplace and overlooked things. The hill may not be named, or even be awarded a contour of its own, but it nevertheless is the place of gentle and unremarkable miracles.
Journal entry:
“17th December, Friday
It didn’t take long
For those three years of growth
To lie cut upon the ground.
Penny sniffs the torn and broken stems.
I step over teasel heads
Trodden into the mud. “
Episode Information
In this episode I read:
Gerard Manley Hopkins’ poem ‘Pied Beauty’ from Poems and Prose published by Penguin Classics (1985).
Tim Hennen’s (2013) ‘What the Plants Say’ from his Darkness Sticks to Everything published by Copper Canyon Press.
I also read a quotation from Arthur Machen’s (1924) The London Adventure: Or the art of wandering. Republished by Tartrus Press.
General Details
In the intro and the outro, Saint-Saen's The Swan is performed by Karr and Bernstein (1961) and available on CC at archive.org.
Two-stroke narrowboat engine recorded by 'James2nd' on the River Weaver, Cheshire. Uploaded to Freesound.org on 23rd June 2018. Creative Commons Licence.
Piano and keyboard interludes composed and performed by Helen Ingram.
All other audio recorded on site.
Contact
For pictures of Erica and images related to the podcasts or to contact me, follow me on:
- Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/noswpod
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nighttimeonstillwaters/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/NoswPod
I would love to hear from you. You can email me at [email protected]
Become a 'Lock-Wheeler'
Would you like to support this podcast by becoming a 'lock-wheeler' for Nighttime on Still Waters? Find out more: 'Lock-wheeling' for Nighttime on Still Waters.
Contact
- Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/noswpod
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nighttimeonstillwaters/
- Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/noswpod.bsky.social
- Mastodon: https://mastodon.world/@nosw
I would love to hear from you. You can email me at [email protected] or drop me a line by going to the nowspod website and using either the contact form or, if you prefer, record your message by clicking on the microphone icon.
For more information about Nighttime on Still Waters
You can find more information and photographs about the podcasts and life aboard the Erica on our website at noswpod.com.
As tonight’s full moon is shrouded by the fog that rolls down the hill and curls and drifts upon the water join us aboard the NB Erica as we fall once more in love with the commonplace and overlooked things. The hill may not be named, or even be awarded a contour of its own, but it nevertheless is the place of gentle and unremarkable miracles.
Journal entry:
“17th December, Friday
It didn’t take long
For those three years of growth
To lie cut upon the ground.
Penny sniffs the torn and broken stems.
I step over teasel heads
Trodden into the mud. “
Episode Information
In this episode I read:
Gerard Manley Hopkins’ poem ‘Pied Beauty’ from Poems and Prose published by Penguin Classics (1985).
Tim Hennen’s (2013) ‘What the Plants Say’ from his Darkness Sticks to Everything published by Copper Canyon Press.
I also read a quotation from Arthur Machen’s (1924) The London Adventure: Or the art of wandering. Republished by Tartrus Press.
General Details
In the intro and the outro, Saint-Saen's The Swan is performed by Karr and Bernstein (1961) and available on CC at archive.org.
Two-stroke narrowboat engine recorded by 'James2nd' on the River Weaver, Cheshire. Uploaded to Freesound.org on 23rd June 2018. Creative Commons Licence.
Piano and keyboard interludes composed and performed by Helen Ingram.
All other audio recorded on site.
Contact
For pictures of Erica and images related to the podcasts or to contact me, follow me on:
- Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/noswpod
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nighttimeonstillwaters/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/NoswPod
I would love to hear from you. You can email me at [email protected]
Become a 'Lock-Wheeler'
Would you like to support this podcast by becoming a 'lock-wheeler' for Nighttime on Still Waters? Find out more: 'Lock-wheeling' for Nighttime on Still Waters.
Contact
- Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/noswpod
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nighttimeonstillwaters/
- Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/noswpod.bsky.social
- Mastodon: https://mastodon.world/@nosw
I would love to hear from you. You can email me at [email protected] or drop me a line by going to the nowspod website and using either the contact form or, if you prefer, record your message by clicking on the microphone icon.
For more information about Nighttime on Still Waters
You can find more information and photographs about the podcasts and life aboard the Erica on our website at noswpod.com.
Previous Episode
Winter Wisdom (Wintrum frod)
Following the epic weather of the past few weeks, we go back in time to a period that best celebrated this type of weather. In this episode we explore why the enigmatic appeal of Anglo-Saxon poetry and its fascination (or even obsession) with winter casts such an enduring influence on our culture. It is the perfect type of literature for cold winter nights, but there are also other deeper traits that remain deeply rooted in our shared cultural memories that inform our attitudes to winter.
Journal entry:
“8th December, Wednesday
Storm Barra is barrelling around the boat
Harrying and jostling us,
So that the roaring world tips and sways.
The darkness is flecked silver with rain
As Penny and I walk into a howling dawn. “
Episode Information
In this episode I mention the following books:
Michael Alexander’s (2006) The Earliest English Poems Penguin Classics series, published by Penguin Books.
Alexandra Harris’ (2015) Weatherland: Writers and artists under English skies published by Thames and Hudson.
I read excerpts from the following poems (Michael Alexander’s translations):
The Ruin (alternative translation)
Exeter riddle 73 (other texts count it as 74)
For those wanting to explore the world of Anglo Saxon and Old English literature, you might find this website, created by Dr Aaron Hostetter from Rutgers University, very helpful: An Old English Poetry Project.
A digital version of the Exeter Book produced c.970 (in which the above are featured) can be viewed here: Exeter Book
I also mentioned Andy Grifee’s narrowboat-based crime series featuring
Become a 'Lock-Wheeler'
Would you like to support this podcast by becoming a 'lock-wheeler' for Nighttime on Still Waters? Find out more: 'Lock-wheeling' for Nighttime on Still Waters.
Contact
- Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/noswpod
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nighttimeonstillwaters/
- Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/noswpod.bsky.social
- Mastodon: https://mastodon.world/@nosw
I would love to hear from you. You can email me at [email protected] or drop me a line by going to the nowspod website and using either the contact form or, if you prefer, record your message by clicking on the microphone icon.
For more information about Nighttime on Still Waters
You can find more information and photographs about the podcasts and life aboard the Erica on our website at noswpod.com.
Next Episode
A Fireside Christmas Eve
Curl up with us for this very special Christmas Eve edition of the podcast. Whether you are feeling on your own or just in need of a bit of a breathing space, why not join me tonight for this special Jólabókaflóð inspired edition of Nighttime on Still Water’s? Although the weather may be closer to Greg Lake’s “veil of tears for the virgin birth”, there will always the possibility for “eyes filled with tinsel and fire.”
Journal entry:
“24th December, Friday. Christmas Eve
Yesterday
Four cormorants swung low out of the mist.
Unlike ducks, geese and swans
Or the parrying cries of the corvids
They were silent.
Dark shapes swimming through the dripping air.
All the haws were encased in perfect globes of water.
Days wrapped in mist hold their own special beauty.”
Episode Information
In this episode I read excerpts from:
Dylan Thomas (1954) ‘Memories of Christmas’ from Quite Early One Morning published by J.M. Dent. Everyman’s Library.
Laurie Lee (2015) ‘Village Christmas’ from his Village Christmas and Other Notes on the English Year, published by Penguin. Modern Classics.
Lucy M. Boston (2000) The Children of Green Knowe published by Faber.
Susan Cooper (2019) The Dark is Rising published by Penguin. Puffin Books
For the episode featuring Lucy M. Boston’s River at Green Knowe where you can find more information about her books and the actual house of Green Knowe (well worth a visit) – Episode 39: Summer Readings 3.
For more information about the Icelandic tradition of Jólabókaflóð – Jolabokaflod: Founding Story
General Details
In the intro and the outro, Saint-Saen's The Swan is performed by Karr and Bernstein (1961) and ava
Become a 'Lock-Wheeler'
Would you like to support this podcast by becoming a 'lock-wheeler' for Nighttime on Still Waters? Find out more: 'Lock-wheeling' for Nighttime on Still Waters.
Contact
- Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/noswpod
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nighttimeonstillwaters/
- Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/noswpod.bsky.social
- Mastodon: https://mastodon.world/@nosw
I would love to hear from you. You can email me at [email protected] or drop me a line by going to the nowspod website and using either the contact form or, if you prefer, record your message by clicking on the microphone icon.
For more information about Nighttime on Still Waters
You can find more information and photographs about the podcasts and life aboard the Erica on our website at noswpod.com.
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