Steeleye Span Album

Johnson

There was a lord, a lord lived in the North Country
He was a man of wealth and fame
He only had one child, a child but only one
And Lady Diamond was her name
She did not love a lord, she did not love a king
She loved a kitchen boy, and William was his name
And though he brought her joy, he also brought her shame
And he gave his heart to Lady Diamond.

Chorus
"And his hair shines like gold," said Lady Diamond
"And his eyes like crystal stones," said Lady Diamond
"Bright as the silver moon" she said, "bright as the sun that shines"
"Bright as the silver moon" she said, "bright as the sun that shines"
On Lady Diamond

Verse 2
It was a Winter's night the lord could get no rest
To Lady Diamond's room he came
He sat down on her bed just like a wondering ghost
Now Lady Diamond tell me plain
"Do you love a lord", he said, "or do you love a king?"
"I love a kitchen boy, and William is his name.
And better I love that boy than all your well-bred men;
I have his heart", said Lady Diamond.

(Instrumental Break - verse)
Oh where are all my men, he said, that I gave meat and fee
Go fetch the kitchen boy and bring him here to me.
They dragged him from the house and hung him on a tree,
And they gave his heart to Lady Diamond.

Chorus

Prior

I lie in this cage in full public gaze
And I don't give a pin for all their scorn
For I've crowned my lover king
Such glorious days I've seen
Give me the chance I'd do it all again.

Robbie my love you've the heart of a dove
Only Scotland could raise such a man
On the wild mountain side
I have lain down by your side
In spite of the bitter wind and rain.

The soft southern dogs have never scaled the heights
They cower in their comfort secure.
But he has dared it all
And he's risked the fearsome fall
Surely God will crown the brave and sure.

At proud Bannockburn their cringing hearts did turn
From his noble and daring campaign
I watched from a distant hill
And my heart flies with him still
Though my body may be caged and disdained.

He's as bold as a ram, he's as gentle as a lamb
He's a man that could never be denied
He is generous and gay
But he's changeable as day
And for just one hour with him I'd gladly die.

Johnson

There was a lord, a lord lived in the North Country
He was a man of wealth and fame
He only had one child, a child but only one
And Lady Diamond was her name
She did not love a lord, she did not love a king
She loved a kitchen boy, and William was his name
And though he brought her joy, he also brought her shame
And he gave his heart to Lady Diamond.

Chorus
"And his hair shines like gold," said Lady Diamond
"And his eyes like crystal stones," said Lady Diamond
"Bright as the silver moon" she said, "bright as the sun that shines"
"Bright as the silver moon" she said, "bright as the sun that shines"
On Lady Diamond

Verse 2
It was a Winter's night the lord could get no rest
To Lady Diamond's room he came
He sat down on her bed just like a wondering ghost
Now Lady Diamond tell me plain
"Do you love a lord", he said, "or do you love a king?"
"I love a kitchen boy, and William is his name.
And better I love that boy than all your well-bred men;
I have his heart", said Lady Diamond.

(Instrumental Break - verse)
Oh where are all my men, he said, that I gave meat and fee
Go fetch the kitchen boy and bring him here to me.
They dragged him from the house and hung him on a tree,
And they gave his heart to Lady Diamond.

Chorus

Traditional

(Instrumental)

After the riding we dispersed,
We drifted home in twos and threes.
Through cold and rain we spat and cursed,
This ancient war of families.

Armies past and then returned,
They killed and raped, they stole and burnt.
So from the cradle we have learnt,
To be as hard as stone.
And learned to stand alone.

(chorus)
They are gone now, the killing and disorder,
They're just ghosts now, the brigand and marauder.
And we give thanks for peace on the border,
We give thanks for peace on the border.

Cloak and dagger, crime on crime,
Anarchy in the borderlands.
The king's men came with a valentine,
To break to power of the border clans.

Some were hung, some sent away,
To Ireland and the low countries.
Great was the price they had to pay,
God bless their memory,
And god bless you and me.

The broken towers that stand today,
Stand for peace and order.
Reminding us until the day,
That we need no more borders.

It's in the evening after dark
When the blackleg miner creeps to work
With his moleskin pants and dirty shirt
There goes the blackleg miner

Well he grabs his duds and down he goes
To hew the coal that lies below
There's not a woman in this town row
Will look at the blackleg miner

Oh Delaval is a terrible place
They rub wet clay in the blackleg's face
And around the heaps they run a foot race
To catch the blackleg miner

And divvnt gan near the Seghill mine
Across the way they stretch a line
To catch the throat and break the spine
Of the dirty blackleg miner

They grab his duds and his picks as well
They hoy him down to the pit of hell
Down you go and fare yee well
You dirty blackleg miner

It's in the evening after dark
When the blackleg miner creeps to work
With his moleskin pants and dirty shirt
There goes the blackleg miner

So join the union while you may
Don't wait 'til your dying day
For that may not be far away
You dirty blackleg miner

Knight

Some sing of their glory
Few tell the true story
Most men they don't need it
White man he kills for it.

They took to the seas
Searching for a land that they could call Paradise
Stealing the breeze that carried them towards the sun
With lust in their eyes and a gun in their hand
They said we've found Paradise
Think of the glory look at the prize we've won.

We know who they were
They were the ones who killed their brothers
To steal from others
We know who they were
They were the ones whose sons and daughters
Are doing it still.

And in their hearts what did they feel?
Did they think they had the right to steal
Another man's land who had no name?
O they didn't think he'd feel the pain.

So they sailed away from their own country
To another man's land far across the sea
And they stole that land from the people there
And they called that land Australia.

Chorus:
Why did he do it
White Man?

They sailed away one winter's day
To a sunlit land that was far away
And they stole that land from the people there
And they called that land America.

Chorus

The priests go down to the river to fish for Friday's meal
The King is brooding day and night
Black with hate, cursing fate
To be ill when the foe is in sight.

The priests they kneel in the chancel in solemn peaceful prayer
The King is laughing, grim and slow
Three brothers die, he hung them high
On a gibbet they died a cruel show.

Kyrie eleison

The priests they crouch o'er their books and scratch away at history
The King he rises from his bed
Leads his men, rides again
But before he sees the border he is dead.

The priests they walk in procession with the coffin of state
The King he leaves his work undone
It is his fate, despite his hate
That his foe lives on to fight his son.

Kyrie eleison
Christe eleison

Johnson

Scarecrow can you hear the wind blow?
Scarecrow can you feel the cold snow?
Can you see the young leaves dying?
Can you hear the old fox crying?
Can you see the swallows flying?
Scarecrow

Scarecrow did you hear the wind blow?
Scarecrow did you feel the cold snow?
Did you see the young men dying?
Did you hear the old men crying?
Did you see the bullets flying?
Scarecrow

Chorus:
Hail rain, wind and snow
Do not scare the old Scarecrow
He was standing there long ago
Scarecrow

Scarecrow can you hear the wind blow?
Scarecrow can you feel the cold snow?
Can you see the young men dying?
Can you hear the old men lying?
Can you see the missiles flying?
Scarecrow

Prior-Kemp

Take my heart to the Holy Land
My comrade, my friend
Take my heart to the Holy Land
And with it make amends
Take my heart to the Holy Land
And give me peace at last
And wash away the sins that lay
Upon it from the past.

Give my soul eternal peace
And dig deep my grave
Give my soul eternal peace
And pray that it be saved
Give my soul eternal peace
Jesus Lord allow
For all the wrongs that I have done
God's mercy on me now

Take my heart to the Holy Land ...