Seizure is threaded through with narratives taken from traditional ballads, many of which were collected by Francis James Child (1825-1896) and so have become known as The Child Ballads. Of course, it’s perfectly possible to read the book without having, as I do, a soundtrack in your head; but the soundtrack, I promise you, came first. These songs are stories of love and death, of the intersection between the earthly world and the world of the spirit. They are songs that cross the borders.

There are many, many versions of most of these songs available. These are a few I like. If you’d like to see the scope of what’s around, check out this website, which – out of the goodness of its heart – lists who’s recorded what, and when.

“The House Carpenter” is sometimes called “The Demon Lover”; Martin Simpson records it as the former on Kind Letters, 2005 (Topic Records, TSCD553); I like The Iron Horse’s version of “The Demon Lover”, Demons & Lovers, 1997 (Festival Records, CDLDL 1265).

Many stories and songs tell of people who transform themselves into seals and back again. There’s “The Silkie / The Song Of The Mermaid” on Smithfield Fair’s Jacobites by Name, 2002 (Centaur Records, 5025351); “A Fisherman’s Song” from Ossian’s Seal Song, 1981 (Iona Records, IR002). I have a special fondness for Maddy Prior’s version, “Great Silkie of Sules Skerry” from her Ravenchild, 1999 (Park Records, PRKCD49 [N/A online]).

The story of a boy who meets the Devil in the road is called the “False Knight on the Road”; here’s one version by Steeleye Span on Please to See the King, 1971 (Shanachie, 79075). As for a girl who meets – well, let’s say a very charming man indeed as she travels on her way, that song is called “Reynardine”, and is one of the oldest (as far as anyone knows) and one of my favourites. Sheila Chandra sings it as “The Enchantment” on her album Moonsung, 1999 (Real World, 47184); a more trad version is June Tabor’s “Reynardine”, Airs & Graces, 1991 (Shanachie, 79055) and An Tua’s, on Six of One, Five of the Other, 2004 (Hanz Araki, 78277068926).

Seizure closes with a version of “Tam Lin“, one of the best-known and most-sung of the great ballads. Once again, Steeleye Span sings it on Spanning the Years, 1995 (EMI [USA], 1136359); Nick Hennessey sings a remarkable version on his album Of Fire, Wind and Silver Stream, which is available through his website. Happy listening.