Lyr Req: Duncan Campbell / Piper's Refrain (Nardin

Subject: Duncan Campbell
From:
Date: 28 Aug 97 - 11:31 AM

I am looking for a song about Duncan Campbell and the Hieland Brigade. French/Indian war, lake Champlain.

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Subject: RE: Duncan Campbell
From: Susan of DT
Date: 28 Aug 97 - 06:57 PM

There are two songs (at least). I knew I should have written it down when I got from the Champlain Valley Festival having heard one version three times and margaret MacArthur's once. I will have to think on the words.

It is a wonderful legend. Duncan Campbell is woken one night with a friend at the door asking to be hidden from pursuit and swears Duncan to silence. The search party arrives and says they are looking for the man who killed Duncan's cousin. Since Duncan promised, he says he has not seen him. The cousin's ghost comes and tell him he will die at Ticonderoga. Years later, Duncan and his son are in a hieland brigade in the French and Indian War and are marching toward a fort with a French name (calliot?), "but the Indians call Ticonderoga". They try to keep the name from Duncan (they have heard the tale) and when he finds out, he knows he will die in the battle. He and his son are two of the three casualties that day.

second half of the chorus; "But when they returned, sad was the piper's refrain Oh, how cruel the battle"

Margaret's song starts with the death of the cousin, the other starts in Canada.

Subject: RE: Duncan Campbell
From: Barry Finn
Date: 29 Aug 97 - 08:09 PM

There's also "My names' Duncan Campbell from the shire of Argile (sp?) I've wandered this country for manys the mile I've wandered through England & Ireland & all And the name that I go by is Erin Go Braugh" Barry

Subject: RE: Duncan Campbell
From: Susan of DT
Date: 29 Aug 97 - 08:40 PM

Barry - Different Duncan Campbell.

Subject: RE: Duncan Campbell
From: Susan of DT
Date: 30 Aug 97 - 12:37 PM

Title: The Piper's Refain

Chorus: Down from the Champlain came the Highland Brigade
Scotland the Brave was the tune that they played
But when they returned the piper's refrain
Was Oh, how cruel the volley

I will keep trying to resurrect the verses, but I do not promise success.

Subject: RE: Duncan Campbell
From: Barry
Date: 31 Aug 97 - 06:22 PM

I know, just adding to the Duncans' Barry

Subject: RE: Duncan Campbell
From: LaMarca
Date: 03 Sep 97 - 05:32 PM

This was recorded by Bok, Muir and Trickett fairly recently. We may have the album at home; if it's on Folk Legacy, there will be a full printed set of the lyrics. I'll check tonight...

Subject: RE: Duncan Campbell
From: LaMarca
Date: 03 Sep 97 - 05:34 PM

P.S. I first encountered the story in a Rod Serling collection of ghost stories I had as a kid; it and other stories in the book scared the beJaysus out of me...

Subject: Lyr Add: PIPER'S REFRAIN (Rich Nardin)
From: Joe Offer
Date: 04 Sep 97 - 04:37 AM

With the clues from Susan and La Marca, I found it: It IS a spooky song, isn't it?

PIPER'S REFRAIN
(Rich Nardin)
Copyright 1983, Bop Talk Music

I'll tell it to you as they told it to me
By the glow of the campfire burning.
By the banks of the water where we sported and played,
They once faced the fury of battle.

[chorus]

And up through the Champlain came the Highland Brigade
The pipes and the drummer played "Scotland the Brave."
But when they sailed home the piper's refrain
Was, Oh, how cruel the volley."

To one Duncan Campbell it came in a dream
That he'd meet his fate where he never had been;
Where the blue waters roll and the stickerbush tear,
It's "Travel well, Duncan, I'll wait for you there.

"For the French and the Indian have challenged our King."
(To a soldier like Duncan, no need to explain.)
"It's many a time I've travelled the waves
To find my fate in the fire."

From Fort William Henry their boats have shoved off
To the North of Lake George in the morning;
To the place the Frenchmen call Carillon,
And the Indians: Ticonderoga.

And the word struck Duncan like a thunderbolt there;
Everyone knew of the warning.
"Oh, give us a tune to remember me by,
For tomorrow I'll not be returning."

When the gunpowder flashed, the Highlanders died,
Never again to walk the hillside.
In the wilderness green, in the sun and the rain,
It's here they're forever remaining.

And I've told it to you as they told it to me,
Of one Duncan Campbell and the Highland Brigade.
When the campfires flicker in the summertime's wane,
through the mist on the water comes the piper's refrain.

Recorded by Bok, Muir and Trickett on "And So Will We Yet"

-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: Duncan Campbell
From: Susan of DT
Date: 04 Sep 97 - 07:30 PM

Thanx Joe. That is more verses than people sang at the festival.

Subject: RE: Duncan Campbell
From: BK
Date: 05 Sep 97 - 12:15 AM

I read somewhere that the story behind the song is supposed to be based on an actual event... The Highlanders are said to be very superstitious... Given their grisly history, maybe they should be... Neat song, though! with a good tune...

Subject: DT Correction: THE PIPER'S REFRAIN (Richard Nardin
From: GUEST,Richard Nardin
Date: 13 Jul 08 - 04:06 PM

I wrote "The Piper's Refrain" around 1980 while living in Saratoga Springs, NY.   The story was first told to me by the Honorable John Driemiller, mayor of Ticonderoga, NY.    The first recording of this song is on my 1983 album "The Pencil Line".    I taught the song to Margaret MacArthur of Vermont.    The MacArthur Family band recorded it on their "MacArthur Road" album.    I believe that Margaret taught the song to Gordon Bok who also recorded it along with Ed Trickett and Ann Muir on their "And So Will We Yet" album.   All in all there are another 5-6 recordings of this song.

The lyrics listed on this site are slight altered from the original version below:
^^
THE PIPER'S REFRAIN
(Richard Nardin)
Copyright 1983, Bop Talk Music

I'll tell it to you as they told it to me
In the glow of the campfire burning.
By the banks of the water where we sported and played,
They once faced the fury of battle.

[chorus]
And up to the Champlain came the Highland Brigade
The pipes and the drummers played "Scotland the Brave."
But when they sailed home the piper's refrain
Was, Oh, how cruel the volley."

To one Duncan Campbell it came in a dream
That he'd meet his fate where he never had been;
Where the blue waters roll and the stickerbush tear,
It's "Travel well, Duncan, I'll wait for you there.

"For the French and the Indian have challenged our King."
(To a soldier like Duncan, no need to explain.)
"It's many a time I've travelled the waves
To find my fate in the fire."

From Fort William Henry their boats pushed away
To the North of Lake George in the morning;
To the place the Frenchmen call Carillon,
And the Indians: Ticonderoga.

And the word struck Duncan like a thunderbolt there;
Everyone knew of the warning.
"Oh, give us a tune to remember me by,
For tomorrow I'll not be returning."

When the gunpowder flashed, the Highlanders died,
Never again to sit by the Clyde.
In the wilderness green, in the sun and the rain,
It's here they're forever remaining.

And I've told it to you as they told it to me,
Of one Duncan Campbell and the Highland Brigade.
When the campfires crackle in the summertime's wane,
through the mist on the water comes the piper's refrain.


Thanks for your interest in my song,
Richard Nardin

Subject: DT Correction: The Piper's Refrain
From: Joe Offer
Date: 23 Jul 08 - 09:57 PM

I received a the above request from Richard Nardin, asking that the Digital Tradition lyrics to his song be corrected. Turns out I'm the one who posted the version above, which now appears in the Digital Tradition. I took the lyrics from the Bok, Muir, Trickett And So Shall We Yet CD. The DT version is my transcription, which is an exact copy of what's printed in the CD booklet. Bok sings "And up to the Champlain," but the CD booklet incorrectly says "through."
On the recording, Bok sings "walk the hillside" - I wonder why he changed it from "sit by the Clyde."
-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: Duncan Campbell/The Piper's Refrain
From: GUEST,Gerry
Date: 24 Jul 08 - 01:23 AM

The BMT album is full of good songs, and this one is superb. My hat's off to Richard Nardin for writing it, and to BMT for their recording.

Subject: RE: Duncan Campbell/The Piper's Refrain
From: Susan of DT
Date: 24 Jul 08 - 08:45 AM

Margaret MacArthur's song on this, in the DT, is The Legend of Duncan Campbell.

Subject: RE: Duncan Campbell/The Piper's Refrain
From: GUEST,MeadowMuskrat
Date: 24 Jul 08 - 11:44 AM

I saw Gordon Bok perform this story and song, and as a post script he added that there is a Duncan Campbell buried at Ticonderoga, but he was buried with his wife. I guess you can draw your own conclusions.

Subject: RE: Duncan Campbell/The Piper's Refrain
From: GUEST,Robert Pell-deChame
Date: 28 Aug 08 - 07:01 PM

Duncan Campbell is, in fact, buried in Fort Edward, NY, in the graveyard directly across the street from the warren County office complex. (look also for Jane McCrea's grave when you are there, another renowned local tale.)

Campbell, whose gravestone indicates that he was indeed from Scotland and had indeed been mortally wounded at the Battle of Carillon, July 1758, died about ten days later on July 17th, 1758, of wounds received at that battle as part of the Black Watch Regiment (who lost about 60% of the thousand they brought with them as part of the largest army ever assembled on this continent up to that time, around 20,000-25,000), led at first by the King's grandson, Lord Howe, who was killed in a skirmish shortly before the battle, and then by the disastrously unprepared and inexperienced bureaucrat, James Abercrombie. The French, with only about 3000 soldiers, won against these overwhelming odds. The Indians chose to stay out of the battle and watch it from afar at the base of today's Mount Defiance.

Robert Louis Stevenson wrote what is probably the most poetic treatment of this great American ghost story, "Ticonderoga, A Tale of the Highlands." I've always wondered why Hollywood has not jumped on this story, given its drama and color.

You may wish to check out another early version of this story, recently discovered among the papers of an early Ticonderoga publican, Greenwood Saint-Wicker and to be published in the upcoming Autumn issue of the Ticonderoga Sentinel,and available at this website after its publication: http://www.timainstreet.org/

Subject: RE: Duncan Campbell/The Piper's Refrain
From: kendall
Date: 28 Aug 08 - 07:27 PM

I sang this one all over Scotland back in 1990. They all knew the story and were very interested in the song.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Duncan Campbell/The Piper's Refrain
From: GUEST,Ryan Casey
Date: 11 Jun 09 - 12:00 AM

Stan Ransom aka The Connecticut Peddler recorded Nardin's song on "Songs of Lake Champlain" (1995). He added the following verse which he put after the first.
^^
'In Scotland an officer decades before
had given a murderer shelter
the murdered man's ghost had promised revenge
at a place called Ticonderoga'

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Duncan Campbell/The Piper's Refrain
From: GUEST,Angie Nardin
Date: 15 Nov 09 - 10:35 AM

my uncle and a few friends wrote all of these songs im sooooooooo proud!!! im only posting this cause he might see it

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Duncan Campbell / Piper's Refrain (Nardin
From: GUEST,Gabriel Nardin
Date: 12 Mar 10 - 06:24 PM

My father, Richard Nardin, currently plays in a traditional Irish and American Folk band called Barrowburn. They have recently added this song to their repertoire, and it is being enjoyed once again by audiences of all venues. I have just posted a current youtube video of them recently performing it. Hope you enjoy.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Duncan Campbell / Piper's Refrain (Nardin
From: GUEST
Date: 21 Sep 10 - 07:31 AM

Having followed Gordon Bok for years, I think I have an answer to why he might have changed the one line of the lyric, as noted above. He is much more of an aural song-learner than a written one, and I would bet that he learned it from Margaret MacArthur herself, not her recording, and that somewhere along the way, he forgot that one line, and duly replaced it with what he thought it might have been...

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Duncan Campbell / Piper's Refrain (Nardin
From: Susan of DT
Date: 22 Sep 10 - 06:53 AM

I have been singing The Piper's Refrain reciting about half of Margaret's song as an introduction. Maybe I'll use that new verse (three postings up) instead.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Duncan Campbell / Piper's Refrain (Nardin
From: dick greenhaus
Date: 22 Sep 10 - 09:53 AM

re:"by the Clyde" and "By the hillside" It's a long way from the Highlands to the Clyde.