Nancy Kerr 2014
Loosely based on the account of the 1593 meeting of Irish pirate queen Grace O’Malley and Queen Elizabeth I. O’Malley was petitioning the Queen for release of her children by an overzealous governor and according to legend carried herself in that meeting with the dignity of a queen meeting an equal, refusing to bow or accept the title of countess. The song was written as part of The Elizabethan Session, commissioned by Folk by the Oak and the English Folk Dance and Song Society.
https://kerrfagan.bandcamp.com/track/broadside
https://kerrfagan.bandcamp.com/track/broadside
Keep your land you gentry of England, France and Spain For there’s nothing like dominion of the water From the rocky coast of Kerry to the bloody Spanish Main It’s the best thing you can ever teach your daughter Chorus: Broadside to broadside, two captains collide Queen of the spheres and queen of the tide Regalia and rebellion go sailing side by side Haul away, sister, haul away Plunder men for treasure, and never heed their blows For there’s nothing given freely to a woman Be generous to friendship and lavish to your foes Then pirate queens may share the seas in common For blows will make you weary and marriage make a slave You’d be better on the sea like brave O’Malley And when that gallant vessel goes a rolling on the wave Be sure you’re on the deck not in the galley