I remember one summer,
So clear to me now.
No kings graced the throne, our armor was leather....
Men rolled in the meadows with girls, smelled of heather...
And then came the call to the field.
So we took up our banners and
Took up our blades,
Our shields and our spears were our only companions...
Our men and our maidens donned armor and tabards...
And our Name, and our Honor was made.
CHORUS:
So sing a ragged drinking chorus, friends,
You've never seen the like
Of a hundred swords of Anglesey
Shining in the noon sunlight.
And if you told me there were
Better Friends,
Then you'd have yourselves a fight.
And I know I'd not be standing alone....
And now the years have passed by and
The young have grown strong.
They carry a message began in Olde Cymru....
They drink from a fountain came out from the Country....
The Country of Gwynedd and Brave Anglesey....
So Hark to the Message
of Honor and Fame.
And fear not nay-sayers and all jealous forces....
We've no need for crowns, (for) our history supports us....
But of crowns, we have plenty, and our warriors are all known by Name...
CHORUS
Was on the green fields of Pennsic
We sought out our foe.
And the fools, they thought they would take us down easy....
All the banners were blowing in a wind light and breezy...
And we sent them to rot down below.
And now as the winter
Comes hard by our camp,
The frost makes us cold, but our steel is still burning....
The gold and the green of our wheel is still turning...
And everyone knows our victory is sure in the end.....
CHORUS
* End: Not alone.....
PASS THE HORN AND TANKARD
by Lorick Dellengwyn
CHORUS:
So pass the horn and tankard
And sing another round
For your welcome here in Anglessea
Where e're ye may be bound!
Bring your strongest warriors,
And set your burdens down--
For in these times of Dark Ages (this line goes minor)
There's few friends can be found
Verse 1:
If I were not a Welshman,
I'd surely be a cow...
For they lie all day in the cool green grass
And never they know how
We men and women suffer
Long lives of hurt and pain.
But cows will never know
The pleasure of a good refrain:
CHORUS
Verse 2:
(now) To Ireland I've travelled;
Through Connacht I have passed.
I've seen the hills of Cork and Kells
In the arms of an Irish lass!
But give me Snowdon's shadow,
My father's old Ash Grove.
Ah Cymru is where I belong;
This is the land I love:
CHORUS
RODERICK GREENE
by Lorick Dellengwyn
and Friar Joseph
All the world has never seen / one the likes of Roderick Greene;
T'was well known that he had laid / With nearly every buxom maid.
He started young, when he was six / his nursemaid taught him dirty tricks
And, though his boyhood wasn't long, she taught him how to sing this song:
CHORUS: Hi! Hi! Spit in yer eye, drop me pants and grin!
Lie down lovely lady fair and let me hammer in!
When Lord Rod was twelve years old / his boyhood was both brash and bold;
Charmed the girls from dusk til dawn / Each one learned to sing his song:
CHORUS
At the age of twenty-four / ladies waited by the door;
As each one cried out for MORE!!! / You could hear his manly ROAR:
CHORUS
At the age of forty-eight / Roderick thought he'd found a mate--
Looking the best a woman can / (But underneath, she was a MAN!!)
(spoken) "Naturally, he was a little shook up by this--Rod, that is!"
From his bride he ran away / til he's now both old and grey;
His lusty days would be no more / After lying with a manly whore!
CHORUS
(Slower, perhaps in drunken operatic style)
At the age of ninety-six / Roderick wears a crucifix
And a collar can be seen / about the neck of REVEREND Greeene!
CHORUS X 2 . . . .
BALLAD OF LLEWELLYN
-or "Edward's Bane"-
by Lorick Dellengwyn
Llewellyn is my friend, the match of any fighting thane!
Throughout the hills and valleys all the people speak his name.
And we, his mighty warriors-- we are known as Edward's Bane!
The gods above us all know how well we have kept this claim:
CHORUS: Put a sword in my hand,
Dress me up in chain!
I'll fight all day and ride all night
To see my homeland again!
I don't care if it's wrong;
I don't care if I die!
For if I die, I'll die in Wales
With kinsmen at my side!
Now, Edward took Caernarvon and he built himself a wall.
He made slaves of our young men-- he made them heed his beck
and call!
So then we stormed his castle and we brought about its fall!
The bards who sing that story make it plain to hear for all:
CHORUS
And then, one gloomy morning, Edward's armies went to war.
We met them `neath the mountains on Llangollen's lonely moor!
The dragon flew above us as they killed us by the score!
So we turned our heels and fled because we couldn't take no more:
CHORUS
We ran until the Midlands lay beneath our aching feet,
And bowed our heads in shame at our dishonorable retreat,
But, By Gods! We have returned again, our enemies to meet!
When their heads lay stacked in bloody cairns our task
will be complete!
CHORUS
To those of you who meet us on this hot and bloody day:
Know ye that your swords and shields, to us, are child's play!
So search within yourselves to find the bravery to stay!
If ye care about your lives, ye'd best turn tail and run away!
FINAL CHORUS
Elegy for Albion's Son
The clouds drew grey/Low, they stung
The warrior's cheeks/Were shadowed bone
Sharp fragments hewn/From sky of axe-carved stone;
The gods traced Fate in runes of lightning bright.
Four-footed steed/With packs down-weighed
Upon he sat as forth/That road he conquered
Armor scrolled of leather/his helm sat round
The sky came down/His iron-clad shoulders hard.
Twas not for fortune sought/Nor woman lost
That warrior rode out upon the wastes
But hoarde of glory/Chased by vengeance
Cold steel burnished with winter's frost.
The hills drew up/From southron lands
Strong sinew carried/Shield and sword
Both warded by arcane words/His horse and he
From hilltop spied the place to die and damned be
But on, in hand/He took his horn
Unto the tower hard by/Stood in saddle
To his lips it raised.
He sounded forth the Day.
From out the Tower called/His quarry dropped the bridge
The groaning chains/He heard the challenge clear
Spurred his horse/Great stallion forward
To the moat he came/His enemy there before.
Never have such fighters stood/angry tusks of boar
Their necks adorned/With torcs of gold and
Shining steel paled water's beauty
They made their pact of battle-death.
Unmounted steed/By water's edge
It watched as Master/Fraught with rage
The warriors clashed/In Tower's shade
They made blood-screams/Of vengeance taken
I shall not speak/Of cowards there were none
Those men were true/Such valor seeming
Untouched by hand of god/Their blood streaming
Into thawing grass. And one day passed.
Another light/It came the dawn
When steaming breath could not be quenched
They laid on still/With spear and shield
The enemy struck/Brave heroes' arms fell and rose
Of weakened strength/My words say not
When either rested/They did not drink
Of victory sweet/Nor of defeat
Did men so grave taste on that Second Day.
Away it passed/Yet still they fought
As horse looked on/Its Master called
A shout of cursing anger/The night he gave
His final cup of red-filled life/If but for one hard stroke
To rave the sword-point/Biting viper's tongue
Into the adversary sinister's breast
He called on Mithras/White Bull's storm
Come down he cried/and take us both.
The Third Day broke/With sword and spear
Locked in mortal struggle fierce/They struck
And again/The clouds of ink saw not the sun
Touch ground of East/And to this day you feel their battle-fever.
High sunlight cleft/The clouds parted
Showed wine of life/Upon the red-stained grass
The warrior screamed his final curse as
Light of god-strength fed his hands
His viper's tongue/the enemy struck
The sword sank home/long spear bit firm
Into the warrior's heart it took/His strength
Last glory blow as both fighters one another slew.
But that was Mordred's and Arthur's due.
John Barleycorn Must Die
Note: This version was copied from a live performance by Jethro Tull. I welcome any information about the original author(s), and any additional/corrected lyrics. --Lorick
There were three men came out of the West
Their fortunes for to try.
And these three men made a solemn vow: John Barleycorn must die.
They've plowed, they've sown, they've harrowed him in
Thrown clods upon his head.
Till these three men were satisfied
John Barleycorn was dead.
They let him lie for a long long time
Till the rains from heaven did fall.
And little Sir John sprang up his head
And so amazed them all.
Well they've let him lie till Midsummer's Day,
Till he leapt out pale and wan (???)
And little Sir John's grown a long long beard
And so become a man.
They've hired men with a scythe so sharp
To cut him off at the knee
They've rolled him and tied him around the waist
Serving him most barbarously.
Well they've hired men with sharp pitchforks
To bring him to the hearth.
And the Loader he has served him worse than that;
He has bound him to the cart.
They've wheeled him 'round and around the field
Till they came up to a barn.
And there they made their solemn oath
Concerning John Barleycorn.
They've hired men with the crabtree sticks
To split him skin from bone.
But the Miller, he has served him worse than that;
He has ground him between two stones.
Well there's beer all in the barrel
And there's brandy in the glass
But little Sir John with his nut-brown bowl
Proved the strongest man at last.
Well the Huntsman he can't hunt the fox
Nor loudly blow his horn.
And the Tinker he can't mend his pots
Without John Barleycorn.
Vae Victus
by Lorick Dellengwyn
Put a sword in my hand
Comes a cry from the Anglesey clan
As we take to the field
And we hit 'em in the shield
'Til they buckle and yield
And we stack their heads up high
And our cry rolls out like a thundering sea
And our enemies slip and fall
And those who hear us know to fear us
When they hear our call: (Chorus)
HAVOC!
VAE VICTUS HO!
There's no hope for you
If you survive
You'll damn your eyes
When you see the men we slew
CYMRU!
ANGLESEA!
No quarter for our foe
So join our kinsmen now
Before you fall beneath our blows
The Tuchuk horde
That feeds our hungry
Swords in Pennsic's wood
Will run like mangy animals
When they see that we're afoot
But that'll never save their scurvy hides
From our cold sword and spear
If you listen to them now
You'll hear their cries and smell their fear
Chorus
The Bedford king of Atlantia
Who marshalled in the town
Ran around like a pig in heat
And showing off his crown
So while the king stood up on high
We struck his crown prince down
The Kinderfodder did this deed
Of honor and renown
Chorus
Llewellyn's Song (Edward's Bane)