(Part of Local History Day)
The cannonball in all its glory, now on permanent public display at Marriott's Warehouse
The Ballad of the Backwoods Cavalier (lyrics at end of this blogpost)
The Ballad of Freeborn John (lyrics at end of this blogpost)
"'I spilled my blood so I need a voice,'/ Said Freeborn John at Putney..."
Dr Paul Richards, who gave an excellent talk about the Siege, with the other Marriott's Warehouse Trustees, along with performers on the day Andy (hidden) and Gareth
The cannonball as presented to Gareth by Veronica Lane
This 17th century
cannonball dates from the Civil War and was
found in a field near King’s Lynn. It was given to Gareth Calway by Veronica
Lane whilst he was touring with his Oliver Cromwell show. Gareth then presented
the cannonball to Marriott’s Warehouse Trust in 2016. During the Civil War the
town suffered a three-week siege from 28th August to 15th September
1643 following a Royalist coup. Parliamentarian forces blockaded the town to
the east and by sea, while cannons were fired across the River Ouse from West
Lynn. On 3rd September 1643 one cannonball went through St.
Margaret’s Church’s west window.
The Siege of Lynn was very
important in terms of the Civil War and also because of its impact on the
population of Lynn. To mark the
occasion, Gareth will join with Andy Wall director of Ely Folk Festival to perform
"The Ballad of Freeborn John" their song about the issues at stake in
the Civil War and declaim his comic ballad "The Ballad of The Backwoods
Cavalier" which tells the story of the Siege as PG Wodehouse might have
told it! Dr Paul Richards will deliver a short talk about the impact of the
Siege on Lynn's population.
The Ballad of The Backwoods Cavalier
My father leapt upon his high horse
And galloped it hard into Lynn,
“I seize this Parliamentary town,
Declare it for the King!”
“You have no mandate!” cried Mayor and MPs
Laughed Dad, “Arrest those knaves!
Cavalier bravado has come to town
Which you from yourselves I’ll save.”
Though Cromwell’s preachies at the Gate
Of Lynn as at Heaven knock,
Our stained glass windows shoot all to hell,
Our royal passage block,
We are the laughing cavaliers
And we need a royal 'we'
Now it's weeing down with cannonballs
And the last laugh is on me.
Say I “Great king, your
royal East
And loyal Lynn, I’ll re-seize ’em,
They’re rebels for Your Majesty
And I’m the man to lead ’em!”
The king he writes a broad letter
And thrusts it into my hand,
“Roger L’Estrange shall rule in Lynn
With phantoms I command.”
We live and die a chevalier’s
life,
And we spend a royal p.
On a black marble floor for our horse's hooves
And a falconer and a fool for me.
We are the laughing cavaliers
And we need a royal 'we'
Now it's weeing down with cannonballs
And the last laugh is on me.
.
From Oxford Town to Norfolk woods
The four winds see me ride
And show my fine letter to a Jack
His poor coat to turn or bribe.
‘Captain Leaman’ is that seaman,
Cries he, ‘Er, we’ll talk anon,
I must now to Lynn awhile but will
Return here to Appleton.”
He rides to Colonel Walton and brings
Six redcoats in disguise,
“Show us His Royal Traitor’s hand!’
They pinch me as a spy.
We are the laughing cavaliers
And we need a royal 'we'
Now it's weeing down with cannonballs
And the last laugh is on ...we.
© Gareth Calway 2015
© Gareth Calway 2015
The Ballad of Freeborn John
The bloodiest war in our history
And one in four of us died
For a castled king on a stagnant throne
In a revolutionary tide.
‘I spilt my blood so I need a voice!’
Cries Freeborn John at Putney,
‘Who dies for England is England’s king,
We are no grandee’s army.
‘The poorest man in England has
The right to live as the greatest,
Our God’s the All in all, our king’s
The Christ in every breast.’
The bloodiest war in our history
And one in four of us died
For a castled king on a stagnant throne
And a revolutionary tide.
We’re the voice of the Freeborn Englishman
That was raised at Magna Carta,
The Dissenting flag of the Good Old Cause,
The common or garden martyr.
I rose with Tyler, Straw and Ball
When peasants shook the kingdom,
I was sold down that river of blood by a king
Who hawked the soul of England.
We need no manor house and land
To fix our permanent interest,
We fight for England, our rights and ourselves:
No mercenary business.
The bloodiest war in our history
And one in four of us died
For a castled king on a stagnant throne
And a revolutionary tide.
I will rise at Kett’s Hill and Tolpuddle,
I will fall at Peterloo,
March to Chartist hell and a Newport hotel
To win this Britain for you,
Die a million deaths in two world wars
Though the portion’s not so many
As died for Charles, that Man of Blood,
And in our redcoat Army.
A new model England truly advanced,
Through rank and royal sin
In a cavalry charge to a Future Now
Whose God Not Man Is King.*
The bloodiest war in our history
And one in four of us died
For a castled king on a stagnant throne
And a revolutionary tide.
© Gareth Calway 2015
© Gareth Calway 2015
*the epitaph on Cromwell’s tomb
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