Close to the Wind Songtext
von Celandine

Farewell to you, my faithful Nancy
And a thousand times adieu
For the constable comes up from Brackley Market
And a hundred volunteers too
No more will we hide in the forests
For fear they would run us to ground

For the wild sea we sailed upon it
Too close to the wind

For twenty years we have roved the highways
Of Northamptonshire
From Daventry down to the southern byways
We robbed both the rich and the poor
For oft times our families were starving
And the highway it kept them alive

And the wild sea we sailed upon it
Too close to the wind


Tonight I lie in a darkened dungeon
Condemned on the gallows to die
While the man who gave us away
Is only bound for Australia
No man could be found to defend us
Nought but a muse came our way

And the wild sea we sailed upon it
Too close to the wind

And the clouds they rise over Northampton Market
And the crowds pour into the town
And the people will throng in its streets till sunset
Till the hangman cuts us down
And fifty children of Cobham
Their fathers are taken away

And the wild sea we sailed upon it
Too close to the wind

And the wild sea we sailed upon it
Too close to the wind