Upnor is a place on the banks of the Medway and we were taken to it by our cousin Garry Oliver and I was so intrigued about the display about the Battle of the Medway that I read a book about it and this song came along.
Warlands was written very early in my songwriting journey and it is about the women who followed their men to the battlefields. They later became nurses, cooks and carers and an integral part of the support for the troops even though they were unpaid and poorly treated by the organisation of the army itself.
This is a two stereotypes for the price of one as it's a compilation of banjo and concertina.. two of the most beloved of instruments on the folk scene.
Grounded down to Upnor
Those stinking rats left sinking ships
While the Hollanders burn our fleet apart
I’ve seen it, I warned them
I cried it from the heart
But they’d never listen as they count their gold
And now I’m grounded down to Upnor
For the want of wages, tools or men,
The navy’s ripped and now ransack’t
Plague and fire never caused such pain
There’s no justice in the blame
With trust in a chain made of lace and lies
The Dutch had the best of us all
In the Narrow seas they’d know their place
“Salute the flag and bend your knee!”
Their masts were set for The British heart
For that peace we’d pay the fee
These wars have cost our purse our pride
To those PISMIRES of the sea
The king knew by the Maytide
The Lowlanders had set their sails
Corruption, greed, neglect and lies
Let them hide in plain sight
With twenty sails upon the Thames
And still no thought to fight
These pitiful, poor, pressed ploughboys
Were no match for Dutch Marines
Deal not oak on gundecks
Meant canons fired but once
Captains were sent to fight with fleet
But there were no boats or men
The winds and tides they favoured them
These horsedung of the devil
The Royal Charles was theirs to take
Susanna broke the chain
The flowers of the fleet aflame, their prey
God spoke Dutch upon that day
T’was only winds that drove them back
We fought as if we were asleep
cowards Deserters plunderers all
But a man needs food to fight
The loyal 7 fought Brakel’s might
Joan’s Petticoat was torn *
* The Naval flag was drawn down and removed
Негізгі бет Ойын-сауық TONY WILSON " Grounded down to Upnor" " Warlands"
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