There’s always an air of mystery about a wishing well. What lurks in those dark watery depths? If I make a wish, will it come true? What’s the going rate for a wish, these days, and is there a discount for a bulk order? So many questions spring to mind. But, for The Owl Service, the only question they want to ask is, “Will the waters hold my burden?”. The nature of that burden, though, remains unspecified.

The Owl Service is a folk collective formed by multi-instrumentalist Steven Paul Collins in 2006. They have released eight albums and an assortment of EPs and singles over the years since then.

Wishing Well was written by the folk singer/songwriter Anne Briggs and Pentangle’s Bert Jansch. It is one of four tracks on the latest EP by The Owl Service, released just 10 days ago. Also on the EP, there is another Anne Briggs original and two traditional folk ballads that she recorded.

Looking back at the picture I have chosen to illustrate the track, I have to wonder if the golden ball is the young woman’s burden. She has asked the frog whether it will float, and he is saying, “How should I know? I didn’t write that <croaking> song!”.