The Western Wind

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The 16 th century song, Westron wynde, is an expression of longing to be with one’s love. It is just one verse and melody in a manuscript from the court of King Henry VIII. Much ink has been fancifully spilled over the meaning of its four lines. This article traces the history of its treatment through renaissance masses, folk music and 20 th century pop music; attempts to elucidate its meaning without fancy; and presents an arrangement to renaissance musical principles on bray harp. Westron wynde when wyll thow blow” looks forward longingly to spring, when the west wind will blow. Both medieval and renaissance literature is full of references to classical Roman and Greek culture and its symbolism. The personification of the “Westron wynde” in Greek mythology was Zephyrus, bringer of gentle breezes. There are many examples of this western wind of spring imagery. One such is in William Shakespeare’s Cymbeline (1609-10), Act 4, Scene 2, spoken by Belarius: When a wind comes from the east rather than the west as he’d prayed for, Reve thinks: “Maybe he hadn’t heard the whole prayer, busy as he was; and maybe I hadn’t asked clearly enough, or maybe I’d been over-clear and asked for too much” (p. 27). What sort of God does Reve believe in? Is he close or remote? Merciful or punishing? Does Reve trust in his faith or does he doubt? Reve tells his parish that God judges not their actions but their intentions. What intentions of Reve’s might come in for God’s judgment? When Reve wonders how long Newman would have had to look at St Christopher’s image to be saved, the dean tells him: “ The eyes must have their fill, is all the manual says,” and Reve asks, “But what’s their fill?” (p. 259). Does such instruction seem at odds with the mystery of what’s become of Newman’s soul? Compare this with Reve’s attitude toward Sarah’s pilgrimage to St Katherine’s shrine. It can also be found in film and television. For example, in The Other Boleyn Girl starring Scarlett Johnson, released in 2008, and South Riding, a 2011 mini-series. Western Wind Reve needs to seek out the culprit by use of his confessional box. But it is difficult when more than one person confesses. And from others the confession amounts to:

In any case, this has the best first line of the year: “Dust and ashes though I am, I sleep the sleep of angels.” Kreps, Daniel; Legaspi, Althea (May 6, 2022). "Carly Rae Jepsen Embraces Spring Fever in Lush "Western Wind" Video". Rolling Stone . Retrieved August 5, 2022. This is a character study type of book, both the individuals - the priest John Reve, the dead man Thomas Newman, the pedantic rural dean; and the collective - Oakham’s wayward parishioners. The Western Wind is also incredibly atmospheric: all that rain, fog and mud reminded me of Aleksei German’s imagery for “Hard to Be a God.” His discussions with the Dean – who is concerned that the murder will give a nearby monastery the excuse it needs to seize the village lands and to whom Reve reports on the confessions he has heard;In Egyptian mythology, Ḥutchai is the god of the west wind. He was depicted as a man with the head of a serpent. A medieval whodunnit… less like reading a novel and more akin to time travel — something I’ve only previously encountered in the work of Hilary Mantel.”— Financial Times

The first recorded instance of the song was in a partbook from around 1530. But, some scholars believe that these lines are at least a couple hundred years older. The lyrics were originally transcribed by Charles Frey as: Meredith, Kyle (June 27, 2022). "Carly Rae Jepsen on New Music, Rostam, and Kate Bush". Consequence of Sound . Retrieved August 5, 2022. Current 93 – Unreleased Rarities, Out-Takes, Rehearsals And Live 82-95". Discogs. Discogs . Retrieved 24 February 2015. I had a few problems with this in terms of historical accuracy (I’m a historian by original training). Reve has a confessional box in his Church, seventy years before they were actually first used. In the descriptions of things European, it feels way too modern and probably owes more to Brexit. There was particular mention of other nearby villages trading in sugar. This was before sugar beet (three hundred years or more before) and before sugar was widely available for anyone but the rich. There was also mention of tea again way before it was available (the first tea houses opening in the mid-1600s). There were other minor niggles in relation to clothing. Although these might be fairly minor they were an irritant. One of the most beguiling novels of the year… Harvey’s language is poetic, in a way that’s brave rather than sentimental, and her intricate observations demand to be dwelled upon. . . [Harvey] is this generation’s Virginia Woolf.”—Gaby Wood, Daily TelegraphMy mother told me that the priest told her that no such miracle had been performed with the wind since the Lord sent in a westerly to banish the plague of locusts. When the priest explained that it was Moses who’d been the instrument of God in the miracle, first spreading his hand to bring the east wind, then spreading it again to bring the west, my mother made association between the newborn Moses who’d been left in a basket of rushes .. and her newborn, and saw me as Moses refashioned, and surmised I might be an instrument of God. I grew up supposing that there was only way of testing the truth of her wildly leaping faith, which was to see if I could, after all, summon that wind again at will. The wind came plenty but never at will. The ambition died with failure and adolescence .. and it was only when my Mother died (in a fire) the grief led me .. to what she’d wanted me to be and I began my training for the clergy and made it the ultimate standard of my closeness to God that he would, one day, and perhaps only once, bring a wind from the west because I asked. Recovering the original tune of Westron Wynde that was used in these Masses is not entirely straightforward. There is a version that uses the secular words, but with rather different notes: [3] "Western Wind" secular lyric version The Westron wynde writer, then, is looking forward to milder times in spring, and is therefore probably set in the previous season, winter.