Daniel Kelly Folk Music
Galahad and the Naiad by Malcolm Guite - Part I
updated
(You can watch the video of the song swap for a few weeks here:
youtube.com/live/502TMa2Adk4 )
I found a comment by @LioraC that this song, Hughie the Graham was in Colin's repertoire. Mostly likely the version that Ewan MacColl and June Tabor do:
youtu.be/ujdj25BAz0o
Here is the MainlyNorfolk discussion:
mainlynorfolk.info/june.tabor/songs/hughiegraeme.html
And a blog discussing the possible origins:
http://walterscott.eu/education/ballads/reiver-ballads/hughie-the-graeme/
Like many of these story ballads, it isn't clear if the story is about real people.
Clan Graham history:
http://www.scotlandinoils.com/clan/Clan-Graham.html
I am using the lyrics from this 1803 Water Scott collection: archive.org/details/bib_fict_4103475_3
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archive.org/details/thismanwasirelan0000unse
For this song I have used the words from the 1857 'Life of St. Columba':
archive.org/details/lifeofstcolumbaf0000adam
This poem appears in several translations in different verse orders, and may well have been written down long after Colm's death. The changes are just to give a rhyming structure.
I have a distance uncle, Wallace Clark, who was involved in the recreation of the exile journey of Columba from Derry to Iona around 563AD:
youtube.com/watch?v=TB3_GWUUUZc
#Ireland #Orthodox #StColumba #Iona #Derry #Colmcille
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I was thinking of Les when this monstrosity imposed itself on me today, while I was driving to play a set at the Irish Club in Canberra for St. Patrick's day (many thanks to the friendly crowd).
#LesBarker #Irish #StPatricks #PartingGlass #Ireland
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#PhilOchs #Painting
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celebratingphilochs.files.wordpress.com/2016/09/phil-ochs-the-war-is-over.pdf
(warning: nude women and subversive songs in the book)
People call this 'Ringing of Revolution' but the title in the songbook is what I have used.
Images are all from the songbook.
#PhilOchs #Revolution
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Words to the poem here:
poetrynook.com/poem/my-prayer-2
Apparently Charlotte Milligan Fox set these words to music, but I can't find copies anywhere:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlotte_Milligan_Fox
#Ireland #IrishBlessing
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archive.org/details/fourwindsofeirin00macmrich
Anna's work was published by her husband, Seumas MacManus, she died just one year after they were married.
Anna was involved in the nationalist monthly, The Shan Van Vocht, and was also a founding member of Inghinidhe na hÉireann:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethna_Carbery
'Mo Chraoibhin Cno' translates to 'my tree nuts', but is being used here in the poem as a pet name for Ireland, and can also refer to someone with brown hair. Anna may have read the poem by the same name written by Edward Walsh, referenced in this 1853 book:
archive.org/details/transactionsofos40ossi
A blog post about Anna's work:
treasonfelony.wordpress.com/2019/03/05/ethna-carbery-and-the-disappearance-of-many-northern-cultural-figures-from-the-literary-history-of-ireland
#Ireland #stpatricksday #stpatricks
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It has been an honor over the past 12 months to both release an album of covers of Leslie's work and also to help in some small way with the preservation of the immense body of work that Leslie has contributed to Filk, Pagan Music, Topical Songs, Feminism and other genres.
This song is better known for the version by Julia Ecklar, Catherine Cook and Joey Shoji that appeared on Minus Ten and Counting:
fanlore.org/wiki/Minus_Ten_and_Counting:_Songs_of_the_Space_Age_(filk_songbook)
The thumbnail is from some real present-day research on this concept:
advancedsciencenews.com/science-fiction-to-reality-space-based-solar-power
Images are all the album covers, not in any particular order. Many available here:
prometheus-music.com/product/sea-of-dreams-leslie-fish
I checked the recording of Leslie made by Speakcarrier (@GhostFox. ) in October last year to confirm that the tune is a mash up of 'Rolling Down to Old Maui' and the hymn, 'Sweet Hope of Glory'.
#Filk
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en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swedish_neutrality
#Russia #NATO #Sweden
Here is the ABBA original:
youtube.com/watch?v=2seCB54Bv-c
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youtu.be/BsbOEGhLTtg
Here is the UN site for Women's Day:
unwomen.org/en/get-involved/international-womens-day
Australian stats are from 2019, here:
https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_departments/Parliamentary_Library/pubs/rp/rp2021/Quick_Guides/Wages
#IWD2024 #internationalwomensday
Chords and lyrics:
folklounge.org/portfolio/womens-day-illusions-of-progress
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I wrote this song for the dancers and the incredible skill they develop and the important mission they are on.
Twirling colour, graceful hands,
Beauty spread through all the lands,
Strength and honour,
Message true,
A wish from my own heart to you,
Years of practice, diamond will,
Limbs are liquid, mind is still,
Tumble, leap and
spin and roll,
Help recover China’s soul.
Travel far from friends and home,
Bringing joy, where ere we roam,
Dancing in,
The way divine,
Footsteps light and costume fine,
Forced to flee our native land,
From Communisms brutal hand,
Here to shine,
Light on the lies,
Stories tell evil’s demise,
Many folks who attend the Shen Yun shows may not be aware of the fact that this dance company exists mostly to combat the brutal suppression of Falun Gong in China. Many of the dancers and musicians have close family members who have been imprisoned, tortured or killed for their connection with this peaceful spiritual practice.
I don't own any of the images, they are all from the Shen Yun website:
shenyun.org
#ShenYun
http://www.troublesarchive.com/artforms/traditional-music/piece/ceasefire
Check out more of Colum's fabulous work on Bandcamp:
columsands.bandcamp.com/music
This song is on 'All My Winding Journeys' which isn't on Bandcamp yet, but you can listen here:
music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_kG6ZIWZUlYf3hBJ4VGElOByDPoS1RqELU&si=NFtnW5yCktlFHRQu
#Ceasefire
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archive.org/details/bookofscottishba00whi/page/134
Here Raymond Crooke ( @raymondcrooke ) sings the A (or B?) variant:
youtube.com/watch?v=NzMAPxf7oMI
All three Child variants here:
sacred-texts.com/neu/eng/child/ch103.htm
The variant I am singing leaves out the interaction with their step-mother's sons, and jumps straight to every young ladies' fantasy of being impregnated in the forest by Robin Hood to spite their mother-in-law.
Painting is by Thomas Frank Heaphy (1813-1873).
#RobinHood #ChildBallads
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The poem, by Cicely, was published in 'Ships and Folks' in 1920:
archive.org/details/shipsfolks00smituoft/page/68
This tune is by Alan Fitzsimmons, according to Charlie Ipcar's page:
charlieipcar.com/lyrics/so_long.htm
Rope photos from Pixabay, barrel from Gencraft.
#Shanty
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By chance, I had already written 13 songs this February, so at the prompting of Deirdre (write.fawm.org/@wylddandelyon) I created a #FAWM account and put my 13 songs up on the site, and wrote this additional FAWM-Meta song.
You can hear them all here:
write.fawm.org/@danielkelly
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I don't condone excessive drinking, especially if you are heavy machinery.
Footage from Intuitive Machines:
youtu.be/9DDg-DsJaRc
#Odysseus #IntuitiveMachines #NASA #Filk #Ukulele
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norse-mythology.org/gods-and-creatures/others/hugin-and-munin
The image is from this 1890 book by Mary Litchfield, The Nine Worlds:
archive.org/details/nineworldsstorie00litc_1
Videos from Pexels and Pixabay.
I didn't have anything to make a rattle sound, so I constructed a Sistrum from things lying around the shed.
#Odin #Pagan #Huginn #Muninn
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songwriter Lauren Oxford (who I met briefly at OVFF last October) was in the UK this month for a filk festival and got to see Karine Polwart
(@karinepolwart) sing live!
I can't remember how I discovered Karine, I think it was on a Scottish folk compilation I bought back when I had a folk show on community radio around 2011. Karine's songwriting is amazing, you can listen to this track on Bandcamp:
karinepolwart.bandcamp.com/album/scribbled-in-chalk
In honor of the fabulous harmonies that Lauren and her band (The Starlight Darlins @thestarlightdarlins ) sing, I've had a go at some on this cover. Check out their video for the 2024 Tiny Desk Contest!
youtube.com/watch?v=LGTWYVGCbp4
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Let's hope it lives up to the original.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avatar%3A_The_Last_Airbender
#ATLA #Avatar #TheLastAirbender
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boingboing.net/2024/02/18/400-gold-trump-sneakers-sell-out-instantly.html
#Sneakers #Trump
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Photos from Alexei's Wikipedia page:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexei_Navalny
by Mitya Aleshkovskiy (CCA SA 2.0) and NoJin (CCA SA 4.0)
Detail on the Zelyonka Attacks (green dye):
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zelyonka_attack
And on Navalny's Sakharov Prize:
(archived)
web.archive.org/web/20211021091245/europarl.europa.eu/news/en/headlines/priorities/sakharov-2021/20211014IPR14915/alexei-navalny-awarded-the-european-parliament-s-2021-sakharov-prize
Chords and Lyrics:
folklounge.org/portfolio/alexei-navalny
#Navalny #Russia #Putin #Ukraine
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youtu.be/ThCAjSPmIWE
but also wanted to do a version with guitar.
Here is the story:
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-02-15/yass-murrumbateman-told-not-to-drink-tap-water/103469214
I don't make the corruption claim flippantly, it was documented.
https://www.governmentnews.com.au/new-corruption-scandal-hits-14-nsw-councils/
Here are the lyrics:
Well I recently moved to this nice little town,
But I’ve heard a rumour that’s going round,
That they boil their water out here folks,
They boil their water out here.
I said to a gentleman how could that be,
Is it not the 21st century,
Why boil your water out here Sir?
Why boil your water out here.
He said well the water to drink isn’t fit,
And if you look closely it’s all full of Shale,
So boil your water out here lad,
So boil your water out here.
I said does the town have no councillors mate,
Or a water department that governs the state,
The reason’s I’d quite like to hear, Sir
The reasons’ I’d quite like to hear,
There was council corruption not so long ago,
And the government promises they come and go,
So boil your water out here lad,
So boil your water out here.
So if you should come to a town they call Yass,
Beware of the liquid that goes in your glass,
And boil you water out here, Folks
Yes boil water out here.
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https://aboutregional.com.au/boil-water-alert-issued-for-yass-valley-until-further-notice/444863/
#Yass
After enjoying this week's visit:
youtube.com/watch?v=mbdJwtZIjJ8
which featured this beautiful pipe:
meerschaummarket.com/srv-eagles-claw-block-meerschaum-pipe-with-fitted-case-m2257
I thought it was time to write a thank-you poem:
allpoetry.com/poem/17641808-The-Poet-s-Den-by-Yasslad
As I've no gift for reading poetry, I've sung the words here.
Malcolm's blog:
malcolmguite.wordpress.com
Follow Karl and Girthsword Promotions (@girthswordpromotions6666) on Facebook for details as they unfold:
facebook.com/girthswordpromotions
Here are Blind Guardian (@blindguardian) rehearsing this song:
youtube.com/watch?v=tBeHOzOl554
Maybe we can get them to play Questfest???
Guitar playing elves from Gencraft.
#BlindGuardian #GirthswordPromotions #Questfest
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Here is the original:
youtube.com/watch?v=T4an5s9GQsc
Photos from Pixabay. Book of Kells pages from here:
https://digitalcollections.tcd.ie/concern/works/hm50tr726
Skellig was where they filmed Luke Skywalker's exile on Ahch-To (bless you) in The Force Awakens:
https://digitalcollections.tcd.ie/concern/works/hm50tr726
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I've avoid putting a spoiler in the verses.
Lyrics and chords here:
folklounge.org/portfolio/flerken-frustration
Flerken lore:
marvel.fandom.com/wiki/Flerken
#filk #marvel #captainmarvel #themarvels #ukulele
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archive.org/details/isbn_001729293
Prompted today by the reading @MalcolmGuitespell uploaded today:
youtube.com/watch?v=d6P01SDkN1E
This poem has a strong feeling of the Hades and Persephone story:
greekmyths-greekmythology.com/myth-of-hades-and-persephone
Images generated from gencraft.com.
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Footage from the game trailer by IGN:
youtube.com/watch?v=92s2vYr1p3s
If you are into shanties, check out the sub-reddit:
reddit.com/r/seashanties
#SkullAndBones #shanties #pirates
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bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-68200933
This parody is based on:
youtu.be/xKCek6_dB0M
#Trump #FoxNews #Parody
The song is said to be about Joseph Thomas, the White Pilgrim:
therestorationmovement.com/_states/nj/thomas.htm
Variously claimed by Benjamin Franklin White:
archive.org/details/spiritualfolkson00jack/page/46
And William Walker:
archive.org/details/imslp-southern-harmony-walker-william/page/n259
And the tune referenced as Braes o' Balquidder.
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ozfolklounge.bandcamp.com/album/huffgryffinclaw
#Hogwarts #HarryPotter #WizardRock
Photo from Wikipedia by Harshlight, 2016. (CCA 2.0)
reddit.com/r/canberra/comments/1aif2gh/horrific_accident_in_dickson_alleyway
(Photo by u/NotThatMat)
In case you aren't familiar with the Australian snack food (or jewelry item):
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheezels
#Cheezels #Canberra #Dickson
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The Azure (Blue/Green) dragon is one of the five directional Dragon Gods:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azure_Dragon
And it also featured on the pre-Communist symbol of China:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twelve_Symbols_national_emblem
It is said that Shan Xiongxin was an incarnated version of the Azure Dragon:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shan_Xiongxin
Chorus words mean, "Bluegreen Dragon of the East", 東方青龍, Dōngfāng Qīnglóng.
Happy Lunar New Year 2024!
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ozfolklounge.bandcamp.com/album/huffgryffinclaw
in the series are actually very significant.
This song is about the 'Mirror of Erised', which shows you as you want to be (or desire to be). The perfectly content person would see themselves just as they are, but others will see what they want to be.
As someone with a Buddhist outlook on life, this algins nicely with the goal of 'non-attachment'.
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harrypotter.fandom.com/wiki/Philosopher%27s_Stone
I not sure if it is sad or hilarious that Scholastic thought American children (and adults?) didn't know what a philosopher was.
#HarryPotter #Filk #Wizardrock
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But if you are, what house are you?
#Gryffindor #Ravenclaw #Hufflepuff NOT #Slytherin
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More about Dudley from Smeltings:
harrypotter.fandom.com/wiki/Smeltings_Academy
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(just ask him)
For those who have never read or watched Harry Potter:
villains.fandom.com/wiki/Gilderoy_Lockhart
#HarryPotter #Filk #WRock #WizardRock #ukulele
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mars.nasa.gov/news/9540/after-three-years-on-mars-nasas-ingenuity-helicopter-mission-ends
There is no under-stating how far this Mars drone went beyond expectations.
Congratulations to NASA/JPL and a well deserved rest to Ingenuity on the red planet.
All video and images from nasa.gov.
#NASA #Ukulele #JPL #MarsMission #Filk
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https://digital.library.villanova.edu/Item/vudl:312589
Details on Joseph:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Campbell_(poet)
Recording this after hearing a song that Summer (@SummerRussell ) put up on Facebook today:
https://fb.watch/pO4PHKLnEk/
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I was wondering why my recording of Brose and Butter was getting more views than usual:
youtu.be/AgfCMZb3UTw
Then I was listening to Selena Fox (@CircleSanctuary) talk about Imbolc and Brigid (after yesterday's song):
youtube.com/watch?v=w5IFuQftU5U
Selena mentioned that Burns night is quite close to Imbolc (25th Jan, vs 1st Feb). Which was when I put the two things together.
Then I remembered that in the Alistair Hulett concert that John (@sparky2086 ) uploaded last week, there is a great rendition of this Burn's song (at the very end of the concert, and sadly cut short).
So that is why I'm recording Robert Burns' anthem for equality of man from 1795:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Man%27s_A_Man_for_A%27_That
Burns was a poor farmer, and while the gentry tolerated him while he was an entertaining oddity, they soon stamped on his rise to power and wealth when they figured out he was often mocking them.
No doubt this song will be sung at many a Burns Night around the world tomorrow.
The last verse 'Shall bear the gree' translates to 'shall take the prize'. Which is interesting language, given the Communist/Socialist/Anarchist anthem 'The Internationale' was not going to be written for another hundred years and Karl Marx would not be born for another 23 years.
And for some added serendipity, the painting of Burns in the thumbnail is by Alexander Nasmyth, who was the father of James Nasmyth whose Steam Hammer was the subject of my Anvil song last week.
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Paintings by John Duncan, from Wikipedia page:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brigid
A good introduction to Brigid by @MoonBooksPublishing here:
youtube.com/watch?v=m199tcQ8aeM
Lyrics here:
folklounge.org/portfolio/brigid
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I love this song for the evocative language, the poignant tune and the sweet sense of nostalgia and growth.
Luckily now you can purchase this brilliant album on Bandcamp:
tonyeardley.bandcamp.com/album/desire-lines
I can't find a real 'Portugal' beach in Cornwall, possibly a pet name for Porthcrno or Portscatho beaches? In any case, I used photos of the top 10 beaches in Cornwall:
au.hotels.com/go/england/best-beaches-cornwall
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youtube.com/watch?v=DRB1_nF4Xu8
Got me thinking about this song by Phil. There is a highly produced version on the 1970 'Greatest Hits' album (which was ironically full of all new material).
But my favourite recording by Phil is this one that he did with John Lennon in 1971:
youtube.com/watch?v=kKIXd8eZCDk
John Lennon would be murdered by a fanatic just 9 years later.
Leslie Fish ( @lesliefish4753 ) wrote this brilliant song for Phil, that I won't try to cover because it's just fabulous as it is:
youtube.com/watch?v=QL3UcWLS0n8
#ChordsofFame #PhilOchs
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Here is the original (@passengermusic):
youtube.com/watch?v=M2RHLZQbZCU
Pictures of beautiful birds from pixabay.
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Videos from Pixabay.
Song details here:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double_Trouble_(Will_Ferrell_and_My_Marianne_song)
#Eurovision #FireSaga #WillFerrell #RachelMcAdams #Ukulele
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Alexander Mackay and his Inn are mentioned in this Dec 1850 edition of the NSW People's Advocate, on the occasion of a visit by the Governor:
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/251539670
The school had only be open for less than a year and Alexander's seven year old daughter is reciting for the Governor.
This might be the same Mackay having a run-in with Ben Hall's gang in 1865:
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/60568232
This 1850 article mentions the establishment of the school in October 1849, and the use of Mackay's building:
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/101730867
Thanks to Barry for the lend of the 125th Anniversary book:
https://catalogue.nla.gov.au/catalog/1253267
#Bowning #Yass
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youtu.be/xa-952x45DM
(At around 1hour 20 minutes, but the whole concert is great)
Here is the MainlyNorfolk page for the ballad:
mainlynorfolk.info/shirley.collins/songs/glenlogie.html
And a version sung by John Strachan, collected by Lomax and Henderson in 1951:
youtu.be/GUOt5slO8mQ
The words I am singing are mostly from this 1904 book which claims the 'A' version is from 1802, with the earliest reference in 1768. I have added a few verses from the 'B' version.
archive.org/details/englishscottishp00unse/page/538
I can't find any other claim to link the ballad anywhere, but there were a John and Jean married in 1626:
Lady Jane Campbell:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_Campbell,_Viscountess_Kenmure
John Gordon, 1st Viscount of Kenmure.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Gordon,_1st_Viscount_of_Kenmure
The seem to fit the story. With 9 variants in the Child collection, it would seem likely that this was about a real event:
sacred-texts.com/neu/eng/child/ch238.htm
Banchory (north east Scotland) is a fair way from Kenmure castle, but not inconceivable that John Gordon would have been there.
Some more research on this ballad:
folklounge.org/who-was-the-hero-of-glenlogie
#Scotland #ChildBallads
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