Lyr Req: Lord Marlborough / Duke of Marlborough

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Lord Marlborough / Duke of Marlborough
From: GUEST
Date: 08 Aug 22 - 01:35 PM

Possibly the most irritating lyric in the entire canon.

Lord Marlborough is most assuredly not his name. John Churchill is his name. Lord Marlborough is his title.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Lord Marlborough / Duke of Marlborough
From: GUEST,SteveT
Date: 25 Nov 11 - 01:35 PM

Thanks - makes sense to me now.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Lord Marlborough / Duke of Marlborough
From: Mick Pearce (MCP)
Date: 25 Nov 11 - 06:19 AM

Before Blenheim, he stormed the Schellenberg heights at Donauwörth. Perhaps they were the lofty hills.


Mick

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Lord Marlborough / Duke of Marlborough
From: GUEST,SteveT
Date: 25 Nov 11 - 05:05 AM

I was thinking of this song the other day and wondering about a verse Nic Jones included in his version. It is inserted a third verse (compared to the versions quoted here) which goes:

Well, good Queen Anne sent us abroad, to Flanders we did go;
And we left the Banks of Newfoundland, for to face the daring foe.
We climbed those lofty hills so high where guns stones broke, likewise,
And all those famous towns we took and we won great victory.

Just wondering if anyone can explain the reference to Flanders and "lofty hills so high". Which hills would those be? It doesn't sound as though the hills referred to were in Newfoundland.

I found a note that "George Wray sang Lord Melbourne on Unto Brigg Fair, from a cylinder recorded in 1908 by Percy Grainger." And this includes the verse as:

Then good Queen Anne sent us on board, to Flanders we did go.
We left the banks of Newfoundland to face our daring foe.
We climbed those lofty bills away, with broken guns, shields likewise;
And all those famous towns we took, to all the world's surprise.

I'm not at all sure what this version of the verse means.

Can anyone explain the "lofty hills so high" part? I don't like singing songs that I don't understand!

Many thanks.

Subject: Lyr Add: THE DUKE OF MARLBOROUGH (from Broadwood)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 06 May 09 - 07:32 PM

Here's how the song appears in English Traditional Songs and Carols by Lucy Etheldred Broadwood (London: Boosey & Co., 1908), where it appears with musical notation:


THE DUKE OF MARLBOROUGH

1. You generals all and champions bold that take delight in the field,
That knock down palaces and castle walls, but now to Death must yield:
Oh! I must go and face the foe, with sword and shield.
I always fought with merry men, but now to Death must yield.

2. I am an Englishman by my birth and Marlborough is my name.
In Devonshire I drew my breath, that place of noted fame.
I was beloved by all my men, Kings and Princes likewise.
Though many towns I often took, I did the world surprise.

3. King Charles the Second I did serve, to face our foes in France,
And at the battle of Ramilies, we boldly did advance.
The sun was down, the earth did shine, so loudly I did cry:
"Fight on, my brave boys, for England! We'll conquer, or we'll nobly die!"

4. Now we have gained the victory and bravely kept the field.
We've took a number of prisoners, and forcèd them to yield.
That very day my horse was shot, all by a musket ball.
As I was mounting up again, my aide-de-camp did fall.

5. Now on a bed of sickness laid, I am resigned to die,
Yet generals all, and champions bold, stand true as well as I.
Take no bribes! stand true to your colours! And fight with courage bold!
I have led my men through fire and smoke, but ne'er was bribed with gold.

[Sung by Mr H. Burstow, 1893.]

Subject: RE: Lyric Correct? Lord Marlborough
From: Anglo
Date: 12 Nov 00 - 11:52 PM

HAH! Right first time (not usual in my research). The book is The Cruel Wars, by Karl Dallas - and there it is, p.118.

Subject: RE: Lyric Correct? Lord Marlborough
From: John in Brisbane
Date: 12 Nov 00 - 11:15 PM

Hi Malcom, I was thinming about this overnight and subsequently checked before I read your post. You are of course dead right, Oxford is not the source.

I know that it is on p118 and is titled 'THE DUKE OF MARLBOROUGH'. The book was ...umm... I pulled a number of tunes from it including 'When This Bloody War is Over', 'Dunkirk'. It's a paperback and has 'War' in its title. It'll take me a coupla days to locate it. Regards, John

Subject: RE: Lyric Correct? Lord Marlborough
From: Malcolm Douglas
Date: 12 Nov 00 - 09:22 PM

Are you sure that was "The Oxford Book of Ballads", John?  I don't think there's a version of Marlborough/Melbourne in it...

Malcolm

Subject: RE: Lyric Correct? Lord Marlborough
From: Anglo
Date: 12 Nov 00 - 12:39 PM

The song "Lord Melbourne" which Percy Grainger recorded, and included the tune in his "Lincolnshire Posy" suite, is also more properly a "Lord Marlborough" variant.

The song is a paean to John Churchill, (1650-1722), 1st Duke of Marlborough. The title passed to Charles (9th duke) in 1892 - Charles was the elder brother of Winston.

Subject: RE: Lyric Correct? Lord Marlborough
From: John in Brisbane
Date: 12 Nov 00 - 08:02 AM

The tune which I submitted in the last couple of months was from the Oxford Book of Ballads. Regards, John

Subject: RE: Lyric Correct? Lord Marlborough
From: Malcolm Douglas
Date: 11 Nov 00 - 03:54 AM

To expand on Bob's post, the incomplete transcription of Lord Marlborough referred to is the one in the DT, which was evidently made by ear from a Fairport Convention record.  Lord Marlborough  -the tune is not given.

The broadside version Bob quotes is part of the  Bodleian Library Broadside Collection  and may be seen here:  Lord Marlborough  (Large image).

There are a good few other broadside versions; they show some textual variations which suggest that at least some of them were collected (or perhaps, more accurately, re-collected) from tradition (and, of course, that broadside publishers regularly pirated texts from each other!)  Evidently, they all derive from the same original source.  The following list is fairly comprehensive (and doubtless over-long, but what the hell), showing a wide distribution over the country. I have omitted duplicate copies.  Where other songs are also given on the same sheet, I've indicated the titles.  These are all large images.

Lord Marlborough  Printed between 1820 and 1824 for Wm. Armstrong, Banastre St., Liverpool.  With "Black Eyed Susan".

Lord Marlborough  Printed between 1823 and 1834 for W.B. Dickinson, High Petergate, York.  With "Mary-Le-More".

Lord Marlborough  Printed between 1810 and 1831 by Marshall of Newcastle.  With "A New Song Called The Fashions".

Lord Marlborough  Printed between 1774 and 1825 by Angus of Newcastle.  With "Lord Nelson".

Lord Marlborough  Printer and date unknown.  With "Henry's Farewell".

Lord Marlborough  Printer and date unknown.  With "Plains of Waterloo" and "The Woodland Maid".

Lord Marlborough  Printer and date unknown.  With "The Loss of One Hero" (another "Plains of Waterloo" song) and "Love and Glory" (a very brief "female warrior" song).

Lord Marlborough  Printed by Crome, J.(?) of Sheffield; date unknown.  With "Henry's Farewell".

Lord Marlborough  Printed between 1820 and 1824 for W. Armstrong, Banastre Street, Liverpool.  With "Young Thomas" (I Live Not Where I Love).

Duke of Marlborough  Printed between 1819 and 1844 by J. Pitts, Toy and Marble Warehouse, Great St. Andrew Street, Seven Dials, London.  With "Banks of the Dee".

Duke of Marlborough  Printer and date unknown.  With "Sally Munro".

Duke of Marlborough  Printed between 1840 and 1866 by J. Harkness of Preston.  With "Polly Perkins".

Duke of Marlborough  Printed between 1840 and 1866 by J. Harkness of Preston.  With "Will Watch".

Duke of Marlborough  Printed between 1858 and 1885 at the "Catnach Press," by W.S. Fortey, Monmouth Court, Seven Dials, London.  With "Dark Hair'd Girl" and "Blue Violets".

Duke of Marlborough  Printed between 1849 and 1862 at Such's Song Mart, 123, Union Street, Boro' S.E. and at 83, Upper White Cross Street, St. Luke's (London).  With "Dawning of the Day".

Duke of Marlborough  Printed between 1828 and 1829 by T. Birt, wholesale and retail, 10, Great St. Andrew Street, Seven Dials, London.  With "Death of General Wolfe".

Duke of Marlborough  Printed between 1855 and 1861 by E. Hodges, Wholesale Toy and Marble Warheouse [sic], 26, Grafton St., Soho, London.  With "Mister Redpath".

Marlborough  Printed between 1796 and 1853 by Swindells of Manchester.

There is also a transcription of the text of a version, collected by Percy Grainger, in the Forum:  Lord Melbourne

Traditional versions, all fairly close to the broadsides, were found by, amongst others, Cecil Sharp, Lucy Broadwood, Alfred Williams and the Hammond brothers, mostly in the early years of the 20th century.  They are usually sung to what is essentially the same 5/4 tune, though it has mutated into quite diverse forms; Frank Purslow (The Constant Lovers, EFDS 1972) prints two variants found by the Hammonds in Dorset and Somerset, the first in C Ionian/Mixolydian, the second in D Dorian; Purslow thought that the song had originally been in 3/2 time.  Apparantly only Cecil Sharp found a version in the major, which is the one recorded by Nic Jones and, subsequently, by Fairport Convention.  Jones credited his source; Fairport did not.

Malcolm

Subject: Lyric Correct? Lord Marlborough
From: Bob Bolton
Date: 10 Nov 00 - 02:11 AM

G'day DT Polishers all,

In a helpful reply on a totally different song, Malcolm Douglas' link had an early copy of this song, which has *asterisks* indicating doubtful words to the person who transcribed it from the singing of Fairport Convention. The broadside The Dke of Marlborough fills in a few of these and I have shown them in bold in the version below.

There are differences in the version, but these might solve some of the worriesome words.

Regards,

Bob Bolton

LORD MARLBOROUGH (The Duke of Marlborough, fron a broadside (` 1830? printed by H. Disley, St Giles)

You generals all and champions bold that takes delight in the field
That knocks down churches and castle walls but now to death must yield
We must go and face our daring foes and sword and with shield
I often fought with my merry men but now to death must yield.

I am an Englishman by birth, Lord Marlborough is my name
And I was brought up in London town, a place of noted fame
I was beloved by all my men, kings and princes likewise
And then all the towns we took to all the world's surprise

King Charles the Second I did serve to face our foes in France
And at the battle of Ramilies we boldly did advance
The sun was down, the earth did quake, so loudly did he cry
"Fight on, my boys, for old England's sake, we'll conquer or we'll die"

But now we gain for victory and bravely kept the field
We took great numbers of prisoners and forced them all to yield
That very day my horse got shot, 'twas by a musket ball
And as I mounted up again, my aide-de-camp did fall

Now I on a bed of sickness lie, I am resigned to die
You generals all and champions bold stand true as well as I
Take no bribes, stand true to your men and fight with courage bold"
I led my men through smoke and fire but never was bribed with gold