15th August 2021
Phil Swann has recently recorded some guitar for my song about the Siege of Plymouth during the English civil war of the 17th century. I have written a new song about an eighty four year old lady called Mary Kelynack who walked all the way from Newlyn in Cornwall to London to see the Great Exhibition in the Crystal Palace . This was during the reign of Queen Victoria. I would like to use these songs for an album which I might call Songs of the South West. Some other songs that could be included on such an album have a Spanish theme, one about Catherine of Aragon arriving in Plymouth and another about the Spanish Armada. I recorded Ashley Dyer playing trumpet for these two songs and Martyn Hillstead has recorded some drums for the new Spanish Armada song. This is the third song that I have composed about the Spanish Armada and on Wednesday evening I really enjoyed recording myself playing bass guitar for it.
The Spanish Are Coming!
Capo third fret
First verse
Cm Eb
The Alarms were sounded
Cm Eb
Church bells rang out
Cm Eb
The Spanish are coming
G
Up went the shout
First chorus
Cm Eb Ab Cm
Greenery thrown onto signal fires
Eb G Cm
To create smoke as the warning arrives
Second verse
Lord Howard's Fleet
Awaits the news
On all the ships
Are the anxious crews
Second chorus
In the mouth of the Tamar and Plymouth sound
The English ships are gathered around
Middle section
Fm Eb
Onshore many pray through the night
Bb Fm Cm
The sails of the armada seen in the morning light
Third verse
Smoke and thunder
Of the cannons blast
As the English ships
Fight the Spaniards at last
Third chorus
From the coast they watch the battle unfold
Attacking the armada the English so bold
Outro
Eb G Cm
The Spanish are coming so they were told