A carval is a type of religious ballad found on the Isle of Man (some have compared it to a carol, but it’s quite different). Carvals were sung at Oie’l Verrey services (Christmas Eve). Carvals contain a lot of verses, and the singer (unaccompanied) would start singing at the back of the church, and take a step forward after they had finished each verse. They would keep on singing until they reached the altar. Although carvals were sung during the Christmas period, they are on various Biblical themes.
The carval that goes with this particular tune is the ‘Carval of the Bad Women’! The lyrics of the carval contemplate all the men in the Bible who were led astray by women.
I’ve barred it differently to how Clague originally notated it the late nineteenth century, as the strong beat (as it is played today anyway) is different to how it was first notated.
The second tune is found under the same name in the Clague collection. The two tunes do have some similarities, but they probably share a name because the same text was put to different tunes.
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