This song has an interesting history. It's the first one for which I've also written the tune. The tune is inspired by a number of sources, including “Heigh, ho, nobody home” (which is a “traditional” piece) as well as the dance music to “Goddesses” (Playford 1651). The sentiment is similar to that of “Three Ravens” (Ravenscroft, 1611).
Part of the reason I actually wrote the music is that I got the idea for the chorus first, and spent a lot of time trying to find a song to match it. I finally decided that it's about time I “grew” a bit as a musician and began writing my own tunes. Creating the tune was actually the easy part; the difficult part was creating something that was different from something I'd heard before. At the end of the day, I realized I'd rung a (very minor) variation on Rose, Rose (also known as Heigh, ho, nobody home).
As I said, I came up with the chorus first. One of the common complaints about the military is that recruiters often spend a lot of time in poorer neighborhoods, because they know their yield is better there. So a disproportionate amount of the military is drawn from the lower classes. Meanwhile, guess who decides whether the military goes into action?
The situation is largely historical, in the sense that in the days of the armored knight, warfare was a prerogative of the rich. The situation changed with the advent of mass armies, which is largely a product of firearms (the firelock being an early version of a longarm): it cost more to field one armored knight than a platoon of arquebusers, and a lot less time, effort, and money was required to train them.
For sake of historical completeness, the lyrics were finished on December 10, 2005, though I've added a few stanzas and made some minor modifications since then. The music (my variant of Rose, Rose...) is here. Note that the final chorus is slightly different from the others.
Once long ago in a land far away A poor young farmer heard a Captain say, "Come off to war with the king's loyal band, In the end he'll give you a grant of land." Chorus The king fought for glory, the duke fought for gold The captain for praise of his actions so bold All the young farmer desired was some land And the feel of the earth in his very own hand. Said the good farmer to his young new wife, "When I return we'll begin our new life, On the king's land no more rent shall we pay And our friends and kin can come by each day." Chorus Given a firelock and taught how to fight Told "With this gun you can bring down a knight." Placed on a ship and then sent 'cross the sea Where he fought for land in a far country. Chorus Through all the times when he fought for his life One thought sustained him, so far from his wife "On the king's land no more rent shall we pay And our friends and kin can come by each day." Chorus One happy day came a page with a tale. "Your wife has birthed a son, strong and hale." Said the good farmer, "Go tell my wife, When this war ends, we'll begin our new life." Chorus Proudly the young farmer fought in the field. His gun killed many knights with sword and shield Then came a day in a dry and dusty place When the farmer's gun exploded in his face. Chorus Came to the farmer the king's grant of land A hillside plot where mighty oak trees stand On the king's land no more rent does he pay And his wife and son come visit every day." Final chorus The king got his glory, the duke got his gold The captain was praised for his actions so bold And the young farmer got his plot of land And the feel of the earth in his very own hand.