We know nothing about the woman pictured (and in the first frame of the film) except that she was Maz's great grandmother and that she was in service. But it's a very eloquent picture. All the other pictures of people in service - England's largest occupation even at the height of the industrial revolution (higher even than the vast numbers employed in agriculture) - are from the website www.thisvictorianlife.com. The sailor is from bbprivateer.ca . The boy and the girl are childhood pictures of Peacock's Tale the duo you hear playing and singing.
Like many folksongs, this one sounds like multiple stories being told at once, not all of which add up. Such is folk music, the collective tale of ordinary folk. It's even possible to hear a happy ending and no doubt there were some for people like the women pictured but many of course ended like the last word of the song in 'misery'. It doesn't have a miserable feeling though, because it's such a lovely tune. And perhaps because of "I wish that short night had had been seven long years". The song has also had an after-life in folk clubs and bars as a bawdy singalong - there was always that "Maggie Mae" innuendo element to Beatles songs like "A Hard Day's Night" and "I'll Get You (In The End)". But that would sacrifice the human comedy and tragedy. The strongest strain in this folk tale is surely the human sympathy, the social comment and the yearning for a better life.
No comments:
Post a Comment