| Many years back when the old oaks were young
|
| Not long after the Northmen had come
|
| A low and evil deed was done
|
| In the dark of the New Forest
|
| In the dark of the New Forest
|
| From the shores of Normandy King William came
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| To Albion fair, King Harold to slay
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| With greed in his heart and his scurrilous claim
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| He took the land for his own
|
| He took the land for his own
|
| Now John was a blacksmith, an honest old man
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| He raised up his children and he worked with his hands
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| At his family’s forge in a patch of land
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| In the dark of the New Forest
|
| In the dark of the New Forest
|
| King William rode out after his victory
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| To ravage the land in his hunger to thieve
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| For hunting grounds in the Wessex trees
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| He took the land for his own
|
| He took the land for his own
|
| But if you steal the land of an Englishman
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| Then you shall know this curse
|
| Your first born son’s warm blood will run
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| Upon the English earth
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| Now King William’s son was called Rufus the Red
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| He took up the crown when his father was dead
|
| And he rode the hunting grounds in his stead
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| In the dark of the New Forest
|
| In the dark of the New Forest
|
| But John’s curse, it called out and Walt Tyrrell fired low
|
| His arrow struck Rufus with a sickening blow
|
| And he fell from his horse to the ground below
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| And the land took him for its own
|
| The land took him for its own
|
| So if you steal the land of an Englishman
|
| Then you shall know this curse
|
| Your first born son’s warm blood will run
|
| Upon the English earth
|
| Many years back when these old oaks were young
|
| Not long after the Northmen had come
|
| A low and evil deed was done
|
| In the dark of the New Forest
|
| In the dark of the New Forest |