Pages

Sunday 8 March 2020

Queen Anne commands ...

I was recently taken to task on Facebook when I quote the following:
Queen Anne commands and we obey.
O'er the hills and far away
I had made the quote in response to a photograph of the popular TV historian Lucy Worsley dressing up as Queen Anne for the third part of her recent series of ROYAL HISTORY'S BIGGEST FIBS. The person who took me to task pointed out that the words had been written by John Tams for the TV adaptation of the SHARPE stories, in which John Tams played Rifleman (later Sergeant) Daniel Hagman.

In actual fact, the tune is a traditional one, and the words that I (mis)quoted were from the version in George Farquhar's play THE RECRUITING OFFICER, which was written in 1706:
Our 'prentice Tom may now refuse
To wipe his scoundrel Master's Shoes,
For now he's free to sing and play
Over the Hills and far away.
Over the Hills and O'er the Main,
To Flanders, Portugal and Spain,
The queen commands and we'll obey
Over the Hills and far away.

We all shall lead more happy lives
By getting rid of brats and wives
That scold and brawl both night and day –
Over the Hills and far away.
Over the Hills and O'er the Main,
To Flanders, Portugal and Spain,
The queen commands and we'll obey
Over the Hills and far away.

Courage, boys, 'tis one to ten,
But we return all gentlemen
While conquering colours we display,
Over the hills and far away.
Over the Hills and O'er the Main,
To Flanders, Portugal and Spain,
The queen commands and we'll obey
Over the Hills and far away.
What I had not realised was that John Tams had written specific verses for several of the episodes:
Chorus:
O'er the hills and o'er the main
Through Flanders, Portugal and Spain.
King George commands and we obey
Over the hills and far away.
For Sharpe's Eagle and Sharpe's Mission:
Here's forty shillings on the drum
To those who volunteer to come,
To 'list and fight the foe today
Over the Hills and far away.
For Sharpe's Company:
Through smoke and fire and shot and shell,
And to the very walls of hell,
But we shall stand and we shall stay
Over the hills and far away
For Sharpe's Enemy:
Though I may travel far from Spain
A part of me shall still remain,
And you are with me night and day
and Over the hills and far away.
For Sharpe's Honour and Sharpe's Siege:
Then fall in lads behind the drum
With colours blazing like the sun.
Along the road to come what may
Over the hills and far away.
For Sharpe's Gold:
When Evil stalks upon the land
I'll neither hold nor stay me hand
But fight to win a better day,
Over the hills and far away.
For Sharpe's Battle:
If I should fall to rise no more,
As many comrades did before,
Ask the fifes and drums to play
Over the hills and far away.
For Sharpe's Sword:
Let kings and tyrants come and go,
I'll stand adjudged by what I know.
A soldier's life I'll ne'er gainsay.
Over the hills and far away.
For Sharpe's Challenge:
Though kings and tyrants come and go
A soldier's life is all I know
I'll live to fight another day
Over the hills and far away.
For Sharpe's Waterloo:
Old Wellington, he scratched his bum.
He says, "Boney lad, thee's had thee fun."
My riflemen will win the day
Over the hills and far away.

In defence of my misquoted version of the words, all I can say is that I know of a military Masonic Lodge in the UK where they sing George Farquhar's words at every after-meeting dinner, but with 'Queen Anne' added to them in place of 'The Queen'. I suspect that this has been done to avoid any confusion that the words of the song refer to our present monarch.

14 comments:

  1. The test of a good song is that it survives and is loved,"owned", and changed, generation after generation.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ross Mac,

      Very true! I Understand that the tune is even older than the words quoted above.

      All the best,

      Bob

      Delete
  2. Lucy is a great historian, but appears to have taken Revisionist History to new heights.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Duc de Gobin,

      My wife and I always enjoy her TV programmes, especially if they give her the opportunity to dress up!

      Are her programmes really that revisionist? She has certainly said things that challenge some commonly held points of view, but I have yet to hear her say something that could not be justified by the evidence.

      All the best,

      Bob

      Delete
  3. Replies
    1. Ray Rousell,

      Since I wrote this blog entry, I keep finding myself humming the tune.

      All the best,

      Bob

      Delete
  4. I never knew it was Tams who wrote the lyrics for the version in Sharpe, let alone composing the other music. Prompted me to look him up on Wiki. Seems he is a talented guy.

    As for Lucy W..... I love her mischievous Jolly Hockey Sticks persona and her programmes are very informative as well as being entertaining.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Nundanket,

      John Tams was also involved in the staging of WAR HORSE, and has won many awards for his music.

      Lucy Worsley has the ability to engage the audience with her consummate story telling, something that a lot of historians often fail to do.

      All the best,

      Bob

      Delete
  5. You might like the Rochester Recruit, a Queen Anne related song allegedly recreated from an historical fragment and sharing the tune of Waltzing Mathilda.

    http://www.traditionalmusic.co.uk/folk-song-lyrics/Marching_Through_Rochester.htm

    Although largely if not completely a modern creation, it has already mutated into as many versions as there are singers.

    The version above should of course refer to the Queen’s Shilling.

    Richard

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Doctorphalanx (Richard),

      Thanks for the link. It’s amazing how the words of folk songs mutate and adapt as history unfolds.

      All the best,

      Bob

      Delete
  6. Replies
    1. Khusru,

      I hope that it found it informative.

      All the best,

      Bob

      Delete
  7. Clearly a popular posting. And equally clearly your Facebook critic was wrong as John Tamms did not write “Queen Anne commands”. His substitution of “King George” was quite appropriate to bring the song up to the modern times of 1809, though what has always struck me was how well “Flanders, Portugal and Spain” still worked a 100 years later.

    It sounds to me as if you may have ventured down the same Google rabbit hole that engulfed me a few months ago: a fun way to pass a few hours, though with the danger that it may become a few days if, like me, you are interested in this genre of old songs. I ended up moving on from “over the hills” to “the girl I left behind me” and thence to YouTube which has a fascinating collection of music videos (including, of course, John Tamms singing this very song).

    As for Lucy Worsley, I don’t watch much TV these days but make an exception for her. As far as I can tell she gets her history right whilst frequently delving into nooks and crannies that are often ignored. Plus I find her fun.

    Mike

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Mike Hall,

      I must admit, I did learn quite a lot about the tune and the words as a result of the criticism I received.

      As for the reference to Flanders, Portugal, and Spain ... well they’ve all be fought over so often, that they’d pretty well fit almost any song about a war involving the British from the Civil War until the end of Napoleonic War.

      John Tams has a very interesting singing voice, and I have several of his recordings on my iPhone and iPad. I particularly like traditional folk music, and think that it’s a much underrated genre of music. (I shall certainly be looking up ‘The girl I left behind me’!)

      When there is nothing to watch on TV, my wife and I look for any of Lucy Worsley’s programme on catch-up as a default. She never disappoints!

      All the best,

      Bob

      Delete

Thank you for leaving a comment. Please note that any comments that are spam or contain phishing messages or that come from Google Accounts that are 'Unknown' will be deleted.