The
Charmer
A soldier is obsessed
with his love - a true charmer.
For the charmer courted
me,
And she stole away my
love,
When my heart was young
and fair,
She was the maid beyond
compare.
When my head was hanging
low
Well, she fought through
frost and snow.
In my arms she'll rest
away
For the charmer I would
name.
She brought that summer
fright,
We were separate every
night.
On those winter days
to prove
All away on the morning
dew.
I wish but it`s in vain,
For the soldier I became,
Fighting lands I'd never
see,
For the grass will cover
me.
Tell it to the charmer,
so fine and pretty.
Farewell charmer.
Well her bed is fine
as silk,
The sheets as white
as milk.
When my heart has gone
away.
I`ll leave a bed as
cold as clay.
She has two hearts I
have none.
All alone when I am
done.
To the charmer I endure,
For the price of love
and war.
Vocals, Tenor Guitar,
Violin - Seth Lakeman
Double Bass - Ben Nicholls
Guitar - Sean Lakeman
Bodhran, Percussion
- Cormac Byrne
Vocals - Steve Knightley
The
Lady of the Sea
Inspired by a Cornish
ship wreck in 1780 at Silver Dollar Bay.
People still dig for her treasure.
Out of the moonlight
in the month of May,
This ship would take
her last breath.
Her full mast it was
draping,
Like a mermaid she was
dressed.
Her lonely heart is
setting free,
All her cares they went
sailing out to sea.
All those people gathered
round,
Flocked to view that
lovely sight.
All young maidens came
to town,
They waved her out into
the night.
She tried to clear the
rocks with swelling sails,
The ocean beat her everytime,
And with a crack her
body failed.
Sea engulfed and filled
our eyes.
When the news returned
to the town,
Every maid sat on the
pier,
With lovers lost and
fathers never found,
For now that mermaid`s
dressed in tears.
Her lonely heart has
set us free,
As all our prayers they
went sailing out to sea.
You can hear her calling,
Now that mermaid`s dressed
in tears.
Vocals, Violins - Seth
Lakeman
Bodhran - Cormac Byrne
Bouzouki - Benji Kirkpatrick
Childe
the Hunter
One of Dartmoor's
most enduring legends. Hunter Childe became lost in a blizzard. To save himself from dying of exposure he crawled inside his
dead horse and wrote a note passing all his estate to those who would find his body.
Come and listen, brave
and tall,
The greatest tale I
have to tell you,
It was a bleak and barren
moor.
In ancient days he fell.
There rode a man of
high renown
His name it came as
hunter Childe.
Every day he chased
heath and waste
On a moor so black and
wild.
CHR.
The wind blew in and
that hunter
Fell upon a bed of snow.
The night drew in and
that thunder
Stuck him in a steady
hole.
He looked up high and
he begged her
"Let me see my lover
home".,
The moon called out
to the hunter
"Come in from the shadows".
He drew a knife from
off his back,
Upon the ground his
horse was lying.
He cut a measure, just
full size
To rest there for the
night.
With a finger he dipped
in blood
And scrabbled words
along the stones,
"On my will, God fulfill,
Rest these heavy bones".
Take a warning when
you`re in the wild,
Against the skyline,
off the high road.
For the memory of hunter
Childe
Should rest you on your
way.
He was a man of high
renown,
His name it came, then
blew away.
Upon his will the moon
to steal,
In the shadows he will
lay.
Vocals, Tenor Guitar,
Violin - Seth Lakeman
Bass - Ben Nicholls
Bodhran, Percussion
- Cormac Bryne
Bouzouki - Benji Kirkpatrick
Vocals - Steve Knightley
The
White Hare
A westcountry legend
that tells of a witch who takes the form of a white hare and goes out looking for prey at night. If she catches your
eye she steals your soul away.
I heard her in the valley,
I heard her in the dead
of night.
The warning of a white
hare
Her eyes burning bright.
Careful you don`t catch
her
Or give her right of
way.
For she will look upon
you,
Steal your soul away
For the white hare is
calling,
Dancing in the night.
She'll be out `til the
morning light.
Out upon the heather
A shadow came onto me.
Her hair was hanging
over,
Her face I could not
see.
She ran behind the rocks,
I heard the hounds cry,
The image of a woman
With her head held up
high.
For the white hare is
calling,
Dancing in the night.
She'll be out `til the
morning
With eyes burning bright.
The white hare is calling
you.
If you go hunting,
Calling out your prey,
If you see a fair maid,
With her hair ash and
grey,
Careful you don`t catch
her,
Give her right of way,
For she will look upon
you,
Steal your soul away.
Vocals, Tenor Guitar
- Seth Lakeman
Bass, Banjo - Ben Nicholls
Guitar - Sean Lakeman
Shaker - Cormac Bryne
Vocals - Kathryn Roberts
The
Colliers
Based upon a true story
at Gresford Colliery of one of the worst mining disasters of the 20th Century.
You've heard of the
great disaster
Where a terrible price
was paid.
One hundred and forty
colliers lost, and twenty only saved.
Down in the dark they`re
lying
With a dirt so thick
inside.
CHR/
There were many lost
in the dark and dust
When the colliers called
out
"Hold your fire!"
The gas in the old deep
section
Packed like a wintery
drift.
And many a man had a
blackened face before he'd finished his shift.
The manager had been
told
"Don`t fire that shot,
we'll die!"
The firemen report their
missing,
Some say forty days.
The manager he ignored
them to cover his criminal ways.
Now down in the dark
they're lying
With a dirt so thick
inside.
The family sent white
lillies,
And paid for their Sunday
best,
And the manager found,
well all comes down
The colliers had their
rest.
We`ll go one more time
unto the mine
To hear those colliers
cry!
There were many lost
in the dark and dust
When the colliers called
out
"Hold your fire!"
Vocals,Tenor Guitar
- Seth Lakeman
Bodhran,Percussion -
Cormac Byrne
Bass, Double Bass -
Ben Nicholls
Vocals, Bouzouki - Benji
Kirkpatrick
Vocals - John Jones
Vocals - Steve Knightley
King
and Country
When her sweetheart
is called up to fight in the Great War, a young woman is left to count the days until his return.
Folding hills, a silver
lane,
A weeping maid, an evening
in the rain,
Roses ramble and the
trees hang low,
We sit and drink to
all good friends we know.
`Tis I my love who I'll
leave in June,
For twenty five days
no more.
Now mark the spot from
whence I came
For king and country
I`ll come back again.
The first season passed
without news.
Two weeks gone and still
no autumn tune.
The leaves they weep
for the loss of their spring,
The dimming days they
serve no better king.
`Tis I my love who fought
for you.
For twenty five weeks
no more....
The wind blew in a few
small drops of rain.
She followed them `til
her tears ran down again.
I`ll do as much as any
young man may.
Please don`t sit and
mourn I`ll come back rich and brave.
`Tis I my love who fell
for you,
after twenty five months
or more....
Out of the doorway her
hands upon her head,
The weeping maid, her
love was lost or dead.
Her longest day had
only just begun.
She cursed the man who
favoured for the gun.
`Tis I my love who fell
for you.
For twenty five years
or more.
Vocals, Tenor Guitar
- Seth Lakeman
Double Bass - Ben Nicholls
Guitar - Sean Lakeman
Vocals - Kathryn Roberts
Vocals - Cara Dillon
The
Setting of the Sun
A young man is haunted
by the lover he mistook for a swan.
Come all young fellows
that carry a gun,
Beware of late shooting
when the daylight is done.
It is my reckoning that
many hazards they may run.
I shot my true love
at the setting of the sun.
In a shower of rain
my darling did lie,
All under the bushes
to keep herself dry.
Her head in her apron
I thought her as a swan.
I shot my true love
at the setting of the sun.
I'll fly from my country,
I nowhere find my rest,
Because I've shot my
own true love, like a bird upon her nest.
Like lead in my heart
lies the deed that I have done.
I shot my true love
at the setting of the sun.
In the night my fair
maid as a white swan appears.
She she says "Oh my
true love quickly dry up those tears,
"I freely forgive you
for this paradise that I've won,
"I was shot by my true
love at the rising of the sun".
The years they pass
leave me lonely and sad.
I can never love again
`cause none make me glad.
I'll wait and expect
you until my work down here is done,
Then I'll meet my true
love at the setting of the sun.
Vocals, Tenor Guitar
- Seth Lakeman
Double Bass - Ben Nicholls
Guitar - Sean Lakeman
Bodhran - Cormac Bryne
Shaker - Jonny Crosbie
Vocals - DBG
Take
No Rogues
Tale of two young men
and local huntsmen in fast pursuit.
Winter morning, I rode
out to take the air.
I heard them calling,
there`s a hunt today declared.
CHR.
Two young soldiers on
the run,
Came in courting a maiden
young.
They stole her beauty,
took no gold.
Take no prisoners, take
no rogues,
Judge and jury, forty
huntsmen rode to town.
Their noble duty, track
those footprints up and down.
We took a mountain,
the moonlight shadows cast our way.
Wind was howling, we
must catch our bird of prey,
Make us ready, I see
a fire up ahead,
Go in gently, load those
rifles up with lead.
Vocals, Tenor Guitar
- Seth Lakeman
Double Bass - Ben Nicholls
Guitars - Sean Lakeman
Bodhran, Percussion
- Cormac Byrne
Bouzouki - Benji Kirkpatrick
Vocals - DBG
1643
The Freedom Fields Battle
was one of the turning points in the English Civil War. People of Plymouth
stood united against the royalists leading to parliament as we know it today.
In this fair town we
laid them down in 1643,
It was poor King Charles
who travelled for miles
In the heart of a civil
dream.
As fierce young men
we took a mighty stand
and waited for the call.
We were the first ones
over the wall.
These four walls, the
heart of our kingdom.
A shot rang out from
behind the hill
As we marched along
the bank.
We were stuck in fast
between a heavy marsh,
And our clothes were
torn and damp.
"So steady your guns
until the last man comes",
Our captain he did cry,
I was the last man to
see him alive.
As night crept in, well
the stars were dim,
No soldier made a sound.
We had lost all sight
in that fading light,
The fires had gone aground.
So the captain went
out to a scream and shout,
For an ambush he would
find.
I was the the last man
to see him alive.
At first light when
the guns were quiet,
Reinforcements came
to town,
They were put on our
side with a parliament pride,
Our freedom it turned
around.
So the battle was won,
but the captain gone,
And forever we recall,
He was the first man
over the wall.
Vocals, Tenor Guitar
,Violin - Seth Lakeman
Double Bass - Ben Nicholls
Guitar - Sean Lakeman
Drums, Percussion -
Cormac Byrne
Bouzouki, Vocals - Benji
Kirkpatrick
Vocals - John Jones
Vocals - Steve Knightley
The
Riflemen of War
Inspired by one of the
victories during the Anglo-Dutch war in 1653.
All you sailors old
or young come light the guns for everyone.
We`ll take the ship
and go to sea
Crush the north in `53
Fought upon a broken
shore
With 20 thousand men
or more.
We`re the riflemen of
war
All you sailors old
or young come light the guns for everyone
Make that shot against
their bow, we watched their maiden sinking down.
Fired aloud and the
cannons roar
With 20 thousand rounds
or more.
We`re the riflemen of
war
All you injured old
or young, come let's steal the gold for everyone.
Take the ship, to England sail.
Good heroes welcome,
we'll provail.
Pull the mast to better
shores,
A hundred sailors back
on board.
We`re the riflemen of
war.
Vocals, Violins - Seth
Lakeman
Double Bass - Ben Nicholls
Guitar - Sean Lakeman
Drums - Cormac Bryne
Pipe and Tabor - Bert
Cleaver
Vocals - John Jones
Vocals - Steve Knightley
The
Band of Gold
Promises made by a young
couple and their tokens of gold.
Summer evening, a maiden
fair
Was walking forth in
the open air.
She met a lover on her
way,
She called out her heart
would stay.
Love not constant will
quickly go.
Cold as winter, white
as snow.
Summer treasure, hand
to hold,
Love be constant in
a band of gold.
The wind is fresh`ning
upon her eyes,
Down the years that
stretch so wide.
Angels sing far away,
His promises, they gently
fade.
Vocals, Tenor Guitar
- Seth Lakeman
Superstrummer - Sean
Lakeman
Bouzouki - Benji Kirkpatrick
Vocals - Kathryn Roberts
The
Final Lot
Story of a well-loved
auctioneer named Joseph Wright.
Beneath this stone in
the fading light
Lies the lonely soul
of a Joseph Wright.
Few hearts knew his
kindness warm,
Few heads grew with
a knowledge more informed.
With a gracious voice
and a humour broad,
He pleased both peasant,
squire and a lord,
A length his breath
had a fortune steered
We called Joe`s life
the finest lot in years.
He's going under,
He's going under,
Poor Joe's life it was
the finest lot in years.
The hammer went down
on his soul that night.
His breath was cold
but he suffered no fight.
He was the last one
sold on a priceless tear,
For poor Joe's life
it was the finest lot in years.
Vocals, Tenor Guitar
- Seth Lakeman
Double Bass - Ben Nicholls
Guitar - Sean Lakeman