March of Cambreadth
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March of Cambreadth is the award-winning signature song of Celtic singer-songwriter Heather Alexander. The song is well-known in filk, Renaissance Fair and Society for Creative Anachronism circles. It has been featured in novels by John Ringo and S.M. Stirling and parodied extensively.
March of Cambreadth won a Pegasus Award for "Best Battle Song" in 2006.
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[edit] Recordings
The song was initially released in 1990 on the Phoenyx album Keepers of the Flame, with Alexander singing lead vocals. The band disbanded in 1991; the album is currently out of print.
Alexander re-recorded the song for her album 1997 Midsummer, framing it as the center of her "War Trilogy". The Midsummer recording is at a faster tempo than Keepers of the Flame and the Wicked Tinkers add their bagpipe-and-drums sound to the song.
The Uffington Horse Mixed Mode CD Enchantment includes a live recording of March of Cambreadth with Andrew Hare playing banjo, Dan Ochipinti on drums, and Alexander switching between guitar and fiddle. (This recording is included in a computer-readable data track.)
[edit] War Trilogy
The "War Trilogy" consists of three songs. The first, a love ballad, anticipates the battle; the second portrays the battle; the third looks back on the battle and its results.
- Tomorrow I Leave For Battle, lyrics: Philip R. Obermarck, music: Heather Alexander
- March of Cambreadth, lyrics & music: Heather Alexander
- Courage Knows No Bounds, lyrics: Philip R. Obermarck, music: Heather Alexander
[edit] Frog of Cambreadth
As described on the live album Festival Wind, Alexander was lurking in a chatroom when her fans observed that they could sing March of Cambreadth to the tune of her children's song Hap'n'Frog and vice versa. Determined to embarrass herself before anyone else did it for her, she took the two songs "and let them have an afternoon together and breed." The result is Frog of Cambreadth, recorded on Festival Wind.
[edit] Cultural References
John Ringo has quoted March of Cambreadth in his novels Hell's Faire, Ghost and There Will Be Dragons. A copy of the Midsummer recording was included on CD-ROM in There Will Be Dragons and in the Baen Free Library.
S.M. Stirling quoted or referenced March of Cambreadth in The Protector's War, A Meeting In Corvallis, and On The Oceans of Eternity.
Mike Shepard used the song in his book Kris Longknife: Defiant.
Bob Kanefsky has parodied March of Cambreadth twice:
Alexander recorded December of Cambreadth for the compliation album Roundworm.
[edit] External Links
[edit] Lyrics and Song Clips
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- An audio clip is available on www.heatherlands.com
