LORD OF THE HARVEST has been far and above the most successful of the songs of Jancis Harvey. Written in 1982 as the result of a phone call between herself and her BBC Schools Producer, Geoff Marshall Taylor, Jancis struggled for a week with all sorts of ideas, and was just aboutt o give up, when the whole song presented itself, so complete,that she felt someone else must have written it.......................It appears in loads of different books and is most readily available in BBC's Come and Praise.

FROM THE DARKNESS CAME LIGHT - the first request from Geoff Marshall Taylor, way back in 1977, following a SONGS OF PRAISE and a phone introduction via Geoffrey Wheeler,with whom Jancis was working. Jancis always feels there are far too many words in each line, but it has been fairly successful and can't think how she could change it anyway.

LITTLE STAR - written after a cold starry night travelling back from filming some Anglia TV programmes just before Christmas, this song now features with several others in COME AND PRAISE.

PLANTING MY FEET, STILL SMALL VOICE and SEE THE FARMER - all tell a similar story, and all feature in the same book and other publications.

FIRE OF BURWELL - wrritten about the fire of 1727 in which 80 village folk perished - an extremely local story,but a tragic one with names like Brown, Clark, Fuller, Adams,Chapman, Webb and Clack, Rayner, Cook and Palmer all appearing on the memorial.

THE YOUNG GYPSY The grave marks the burial of this young man along the old A45 near Kentford. Miscounted his sheep after a day of tending the sheep during a summer of working as he travelled. He couldn't face public humiliation or transportation and therefore hanged himself. The next day no sheep were found to be missing.

SONG OF SUFFOLK - now here's a story, way back in 1982 in the middle of a long hot August, Jancis was thinking how to make hay during a quiet month. She took herself off to her caravan in Aldeburgh and whilst watching the sun rise over the sea one morning, penned this little number. It has always been a bit of a favourite, but never more so, than when she moved to Suffolk and the village of KENTFORD in 1999 and in October 2000, on the release of her CD People and Places, finally got round to contacting Radio Suffolk. The station, especially Lesley Dolphin who has given this some great air plays, and at last the song has come home to roost ! Not quite the end of the story,an extra verse was written about Mildenhall in 2000 at the Richmond Fellowship session in Newmarket, hence the CD track entitled SONG OF SUFFOLK 2000. Thanks too, to Pete ond the Folk programmes for the plays.

CANDLE IN THE DARK - written in 1990 at the time when the Gulf War was about to erupt - scanning the news for a glimmer of hope, this song came winging its way to Jancis. British Organ Donor Society have adopted it for their Candle Services each year at Wimpole, near Cambridge (also in Ripon Cathedral). Title track from her previous CD.

A SHOEBOX FULL OF WISHES - written following an appeal for Shoeboxes to Croatia - the song appeared just as Jancis was filling her shoebox. She enclosed the words plus a letter and a photo and had a really nice reply from a lady called Jelka from Bosnia. Jancis was quite relieved that she had written on the box the type of person the box was designed for, thinking that an 18 year old boy would have been disappointed with a pair of tights, manicure set, perfume, deodorant, etc. Well, I expect so, anyway.

ROAD TO EMMAUS - in 1992 the first Emmaus community was opened in Landbeach near Cambridge by Terry Waite and Lord Runcie. Jancis composed this song for the event and sang it on the day - 1st July. Nice morning to start with and then the coldest and wettest day of the year, when everyone who was there suffered from 'flu for weeks afterwards. No one thought to put up any form of cover for the opening ceremony ! Apart from that we all enjoyed ourselves..

OPEN DOOR - the theme song for NEWMARKET OPEN DOOR and used for services, and as part of the annual concert which Jancis organises and hosts each year. A wonderful project for the homeless initially thought out by Churches Together in Newmarket, now up and running at Portland House in the town.

OUR TOWN - this song was born during a session at The Richmond Fellowship in Newmarket - songwriting sessions evolved as part of the music sessions with Jancis. Some songs were laboured over, but still very good. However, this one just about wrote itself and is the most popular of the songs of Jancis in and around the town of Newmarket for obvious reasons.

WHERE GENTLY FLOWS THE CAM and FOUNTAIN IN THE MARKET - written at the dawning of Radio Cambridgeshire in the eighties, as part of some Sunday Morning slots which Jancis used to present. Fountain talks of Trevor Hughes the itinerant character of the sixties and seventies, and is very popular with those who remember him. FIRE OF BURWELL had a similar birth, and goes down a bomb in and around the village !

WAKEMAN OF RIPON - written as part of some celebrations connected with Ripon's City Charter - sung in the Cathedral and heard by a nun, Sister Alice, who was at the time, Head Teacher of the local school and who, immediately wrote to the various TV stations. As a result, Jancis was featured on HIGHWAY with the children from her school and a very jolly time was had by all in the Market Square of Ripon for the filming.

ANNABELLS'S UNICORN - After visiting her very sick friend, Annabelle one day, Jancis returned home on what was then the A45 and penned this song. Annabelle had been asking if Jancis knew about the Unicorn, the bringer of miracles. As if by magic, Jancis felt the presence of this mythical beast - the song took about 15 minutes to write down, and has been a great favourite over the years.

SEAGULL - written in Devon in 1998 after watching a seagull soaring high above. Lots of painters on this holiday, in a lovely spot just down the coast from Salcombe and over the cliffs from Bolberry Down - Jancis painted this picture in words. This song is also full of a few hidden agendas, especially in the chorus - but you would need to know about Aloe Vera and certain products to appreciate it - verse two also holds a secret or two ! Let me know if you can identify anything......

VENITE and BENEDICITE - have been written as adaptations from the Book of Common Prayer - requests from her church in Bottisham.

Email me if there are any other songs you know to have been written by me, which are not included and you would like to know about.