We Be Soldiers Three - traditional
-
The words to this song were published in Thomas Ravenscroft’s ‘Deuteromelia’ 1609.
Sam first heard it on an album of civil war songs back in the 1980s and instantly fell in love with it.
The laud, gurdy and recorder work beautifully together and we hope that we’ve got the seedy,
yet slightly menacing feel just right. It has a great marchy quality even at this sedate pace -
maybe the soldiers were a bit the worse for wear and had to go gently!
Slotted neatly into the middle of this song is Ferris’s tune, Phoebe’s Retreat, which appeared on our album
‘Atlas’. It was originally written as a lament for a departed friend, but we feel that it fits in perfectly
with Soldiers Three.
Ferris - sopranino recorder, Swayne pipes in G
Ruth - hurdy gurdy, vocals
Sam - laud, vocals
-
We be soldiers three,
Pardonnez-moi je vous en prie,
Lately come forth from the low country,
With never a penny of money.
Hail good fellow I drink to thee,
Pardonnez-moi je vous en prie,
To all good fellows where’er they may be,
With never a penny of money.
Charge it again boys, charge it again
Pardonnez-moi je vous en prie,
As long as you have any ink in your pen
With never a penny of money.
He who will not drink with me,
Pardonnez-moi je vous en prie,
Will pay for the shot whate’er it may be,
With never a penny of money
We be soldiers three,
Pardonnez-moi je vous en prie,
Lately come forth from the low country,
With never a penny of money.
- back to Court The Sun main page
