Frank Turner

Lyrics

Many years back when these old oaks were young
Not long after the north men had come
A low and evil deed was done
In the dark of the new forest.

From the shores of Normandy King William came
To Albion fair, King Harold to slay
With greed in his heart and a scurrilous claim
He took the land for his own.

Now John was a blacksmith, an honest old man
He raised up his children, he worked with his hands
In his family's forge on a patch of land
In the dark of the new forest.

King William rode out after his victory
To ravage the land and his hunger to feed
For hunting grounds in the Wessex trees
He took the land for his own.

But if you steal the land of an English man
Then you shall know this curse
Your first born son's warm blood will run
Upon the English earth.

Now King William's son was called Rufus the red
He took up the crown when his father was dead
And roamed the hunting grounds in his stead
In the dark of the new forest.

But John's curse it called out and Lord Tyrell fired low
His arrow struck Rufus with a sickening blow
He fell from his horse to the ground below
And the land took him for its own.

So If you steal the land of an English man
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 north men had come
A low and evil deed was done
In the dark of the new forest.