I only wish I knew the lyrics so I could understand the story behind it. Nonetheless it was great!

You meet the most interesting people!

Later on in the day!

The sun shone hot on the holy grey stone walls of the village church

And from their homes along the road the villagers they marched

All in their best they all were dressed to greet the bride and groom

Yes laughter filled the air that fateful day at Stanton Drew.



The sermon o'er the couple kiss the service now is done

And to the village green the congregation now must run

The piper strikes a merry note and boldly starts to play

We'll eat and drink and laugh and sing and dance away the day



All the food is gone, the wine's all drunk, they only want to dance

And any pretty girl who wants to rest can't stand a chance

But as the village clock strikes twelve to end the wedding day

The piper blows his last note and his music fades away.



Chorus: "Oh piper won't you play for me" the lady softly begged

But the piper stood with his pipes by his side and he firmly shook his head

"Midnight has struck, it's Sunday now, I can no longer play

For it's only the Devil's Children will dance on the Sabbath Day."



They laugh, they scoff, they scorn the man for having such beliefs

But trusted men of God will always stand close by their faith

No bribery nor change to praise could ever bring him back

And no-one noticed join the ring, the man all dressed in black



Chorus:



"What can I do?" the lady cried," we'd only just begun

But with no music for you ears you might as well go home."

"I'll play the violin for you." A voice came from the back

And that is when they turned and saw the man all dressed in black



Well no-one knew just what it was that chilled your very soul

But something in this stranger's way just made your blood run cold

But as his music soared away up through the village street

The rhythm held each wedding guest and brought them to their feet.



They danced and danced ‘til each and every one was fit to drop

And all the time the fiddler played they found they could not stop

Then with an evil laugh the man refused to slow the pace

And then with a howl, threw back his cowl to reveal the Devil's face



Chorus:



The wind it howled, the lightning flashed, the thunder loudly cracked

"I'll make you dance" the Devil laughed, "til the flesh falls from your back"

Then suddenly the music stopped the man in black was gone

Of the bride and the groom and their wedding guests there was nothing left but stone



The sun came up on Sunday morn and the dew lay on the ground

The piper stood by the ring of stones and he sadly looked around

He understood just what he saw, his eyes were full of tears

And all the while the lady's words kept ringing in his ears



"Oh piper won't you play for me" the lady had softly begged

As the piper stood with his pipes by his side he sadly shook his head

"Midnight it came it's Sunday now I could no longer play

And it was only the Devil's children that danced on the Sabbath Day."

Bonnie Prince Charlie has not been forgotten, it seems.

There is another version of this song that recorded by Bully Wee on an album about the time I met them. It was not mixed well, and the vocal was somewhat supressed, which is a shame, because the Yardley brothers were both fine vocalists. Even Ian sang on this number! Ian Cutler was their fiddler, and the only Engishman in the group. By the way, if you run into him, he still owes me back my short story book that I lent him. It's only been 48 years, Ian!!!! They used to joke on stage about some song they did that was originally Scottish, but has been taken over by the Irish. Ian reminded the audience that it still had English words. Ah, the days of carefree youth!

https://www.radioechoes.com/?page=series&genre=OTR-Variety&series=Folkweave

I misspent my youth listening to Folkweave, Folk '72, '73, '74

I hear CrowdyCrawn live numerous times and loved them.
The Teesside Fettlers, Chieftans, Yetties of Yetminster were all friends of mine.

There's lots of other radio recordings from the 70's as well if you go up a few pages and select your genre.