{"id":591,"date":"2011-10-14T16:29:50","date_gmt":"2011-10-14T16:29:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mbouchard.com\/aneleda\/?p=591"},"modified":"2013-07-15T17:01:52","modified_gmt":"2013-07-15T17:01:52","slug":"london-town","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mbouchard.com\/aneleda\/london-town","title":{"rendered":"There Was a Bard in London Town"},"content":{"rendered":"

…OR the Brutal Entertainment of Murdering a Bard in a Group Effort.**<\/strong><\/p>\n

BY Aneleda,\u00a0 Aoife, Toki, Miriam, Leo, Alan, Ian, Meredith and Jean.<\/p>\n

There was a bard in London town
\nwho in her jest ticked off the Crown
\no’re the square they hung her upside down
\nfrom atop the Tow’r of London.<\/p>\n

A priest was called to give the rites;
\nthey held him ore’ her by his tights
\nThere he became afraid of heights
\nThere on the Tow’r o’ London.<\/p>\n

The priest was hauled back up the wall
\nBut could ever hear the singing call
\nThat echoed off each stoney wall
\nWithin the Tow’r o’ London.<\/p>\n

To be a bard is rather hard
\nvaritas et cantus
\nto bear the weight of truth and song
\ncan get a girl in trouble-o.<\/p>\n

Soon came the carrion birds so black
\nThey sat upon her hanging back
\nAnd planned to have a little snack
\nUtop the Tow’r o’ London.<\/p>\n

One crow said, \u201cBrothers, here\u2019s a treat!
\nOur friend\u2014the bard is made of meat.
\nHer words offend, but she tastes sweet,
\nhere atop the Tow\u2019r of London.\u201d<\/p>\n

They left her chords alone, the crows,
\nPicking bits off of her toes
\nAnd so the Bard\u2019s high voice it rose
\nFrom atop the Tow\u2019r of London.\u201d<\/p>\n

To be a bard is rather hard
\nvaritas et cantus
\nto bear the weight of truth and song
\ncan get a girl in trouble-o.<\/p>\n

The bard could not her jesting cease
\n\u201cLook at how they flock like geese
\n\u201cto watch me go to final peace
\n\u201cAtop the Tow’r o’ London.”<\/p>\n

The birds they dined upon her eyes
\nthey were not troubled by her sighs
\nThe crowds below could watch her die
\nfrom atop the Tow’r o’ London.<\/p>\n

The Bard made rhymes while crows did peck
\na bob-and-wheel \u2018bout bleeding neck.
\n\u201cI could complain, but what the heck!
\nI\u2019m atop the Tow’r o’ London.”<\/p>\n

To be a bard is rather hard
\nvaritas et cantus
\nto bear the weight of truth and song
\ncan get a girl in trouble-o.<\/p>\n

…\u201cAll you folk out in the crowd
\n\u201cThink you not that I am proud?
\n\u201cTo make my best and final bow’d
\nAtop the Tow’r o’ London.<\/p>\n

Ere she become a love-ed clown
\nthe sheriff tried to take her down
\nbut was hit with fruit throughout the town
\nseen from the Tow’r o’ London.<\/p>\n

…They sent the executioner
\nto take the curly head from her
\nbut alas, he was a saboteur
\natop the Tow’r o’ London.<\/p>\n

To be a bard is rather hard
\nvaritas et cantus
\nto bear the weight of truth and song
\ncan get a girl in trouble-o.<\/p>\n

The sabateur was stern and hard,
\nbut he took a shine to the curly bard.
\n(Did I say that sabateur was hard?)
\natop the Tow’r o’ London.<\/p>\n

The Knight from Thanet, with regret,
\nwas sent to cease the red-haired threat
\nbut with remorse was he was beset
\natop the Tow’r o’ London.<\/p>\n

A count was sent, with a sharpened knife
\nto end her song, and take her life.
\nInstead her took her, like a wife.
\natop the Tow’r o’ London.<\/p>\n

To be a bard is rather hard
\nvaritas et cantus
\nto bear the weight of truth and song
\ncan get a girl in trouble-o.<\/p>\n

no sounds now issued from her throat
\nbut her soul was not yet in charon’s boat
\nthough her body tossed down to the moat
\nfrom atop the Tow’r o’ London.<\/p>\n

The bard could swim well – like a fish
\nshe’s fled the moat with a great swish
\nand the count and she both got their wish
\nsoaked ‘neath the Tow’r o’ London.<\/p>\n

The bard, the count, they’re on their way
\nand rumoring is here to stay
\nThe crows are now acting the play
\nAtop the Tow’r o’ London.<\/p>\n

To be a bard is rather hard
\nvaritas et cantus
\nto bear the weight of truth and song
\ncan get a girl in trouble-o.<\/p>\n

But a bard’s voice carries far and wide
\nWhile she searched for a place to hide
\nHer jest still echoed clear inside,
\nIn walls and Tow’r o’ London.<\/p>\n

At last the noisy bard was found
\nThey killed her dead upon the ground,
\nbut even dead she made a sound!
\necho’d the Tow’r o’ London.<\/p>\n

Lucan’s muse, though gone away,
\nHer bardic tales they still do play,
\nthe legends trace is here to stay
\nHaunting the Tow’r o’ London.<\/p>\n

To be a bard is rather hard
\nvaritas et cantus
\nto bear the weight of truth and song
\ncan get a girl in trouble-o.<\/p>\n

*** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** ***<\/p>\n

It kind of has its own melody, but Toki claims it scans to “16 Tons” pretty well too.<\/p>\n

**So- I made a smart comment one day about what would happen if a hypothetical royal bard really ticked off the Royals. Then I mused a quatrain, and posted it on Facebook, and someone responded.\u00a0 Then another person chimed in, and I realized that frankly, either this was really motivating bardic or a LOT of people want me dead!\u00a0 I pledged to sing this in the road in front of our camp at 7pm War Tuesday at Pennsic, because I was too lowly to sing it IN camp. Anyway, I sang it. All 20+ verses. It’s been sung twice, once in the middle of Bytheway and once at the VDK encampment.<\/em><\/p>\n

(The post that inspired this, ahem, brilliant idea is this: Plotting for Pennsic makes me think that I would have rocked at court intrigue. Except that I’m mostly transparent, and a lousy poker player. Ok, nevermind, I would totally have been beheaded or locked in the Tower of London. (Upside, there’d now be a singing ghost! What a tourist attraction!)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

…OR the Brutal Entertainment of Murdering a Bard in a Group Effort.** BY Aneleda,\u00a0 Aoife, Toki, Miriam, Leo, Alan, Ian, Meredith and Jean. There was a bard in London town who in her jest ticked off the Crown o’re the square they hung her upside down from atop the Tow’r of London. A priest was … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “There Was a Bard in London Town”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-591","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-original-songs"],"yoast_head":"\nThere Was a Bard in London Town - Aneleda Falconbridge<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/mbouchard.com\/aneleda\/london-town\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"There Was a Bard in London Town - Aneleda Falconbridge\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"…OR the Brutal Entertainment of Murdering a Bard in a Group Effort.** BY Aneleda,\u00a0 Aoife, Toki, Miriam, Leo, Alan, Ian, Meredith and Jean. There was a bard in London town who in her jest ticked off the Crown o’re the square they hung her upside down from atop the Tow’r of London. A priest was … Continue reading "There Was a Bard in London Town"\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/mbouchard.com\/aneleda\/london-town\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Aneleda Falconbridge\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/falconbridgemusic\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/falconbridgemusic\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-10-14T16:29:50+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2013-07-15T17:01:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"aneleda\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"aneleda\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mbouchard.com\/aneleda\/london-town#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mbouchard.com\/aneleda\/london-town\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"aneleda\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mbouchard.com\/aneleda\/#\/schema\/person\/9c4b99d167fa9430dc1e3a0cc8f6bcd3\"},\"headline\":\"There Was a Bard in London Town\",\"datePublished\":\"2011-10-14T16:29:50+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2013-07-15T17:01:52+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mbouchard.com\/aneleda\/london-town\"},\"wordCount\":983,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mbouchard.com\/aneleda\/#\/schema\/person\/9c4b99d167fa9430dc1e3a0cc8f6bcd3\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Original Songs\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mbouchard.com\/aneleda\/london-town\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/mbouchard.com\/aneleda\/london-town\",\"name\":\"There Was a Bard in London Town - Aneleda Falconbridge\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mbouchard.com\/aneleda\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2011-10-14T16:29:50+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2013-07-15T17:01:52+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mbouchard.com\/aneleda\/london-town#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/mbouchard.com\/aneleda\/london-town\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mbouchard.com\/aneleda\/london-town#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/mbouchard.com\/aneleda\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"There Was a Bard in London Town\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mbouchard.com\/aneleda\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/mbouchard.com\/aneleda\/\",\"name\":\"Aneleda Falconbridge\",\"description\":\"The Fyne and Nice Workes of Aneleda Falconbridge\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mbouchard.com\/aneleda\/#\/schema\/person\/9c4b99d167fa9430dc1e3a0cc8f6bcd3\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/mbouchard.com\/aneleda\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":[\"Person\",\"Organization\"],\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mbouchard.com\/aneleda\/#\/schema\/person\/9c4b99d167fa9430dc1e3a0cc8f6bcd3\",\"name\":\"aneleda\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mbouchard.com\/aneleda\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e375c068120ccaceb2cc2bddda9e3ef7?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e375c068120ccaceb2cc2bddda9e3ef7?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"caption\":\"aneleda\"},\"logo\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/mbouchard.com\/aneleda\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/falconbridgemusic\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/mbouchard.com\/aneleda\/author\/aneleda\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"There Was a Bard in London Town - Aneleda Falconbridge","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/mbouchard.com\/aneleda\/london-town","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"There Was a Bard in London Town - Aneleda Falconbridge","og_description":"…OR the Brutal Entertainment of Murdering a Bard in a Group Effort.** BY Aneleda,\u00a0 Aoife, Toki, Miriam, Leo, Alan, Ian, Meredith and Jean. There was a bard in London town who in her jest ticked off the Crown o’re the square they hung her upside down from atop the Tow’r of London. A priest was … Continue reading \"There Was a Bard in London Town\"","og_url":"https:\/\/mbouchard.com\/aneleda\/london-town","og_site_name":"Aneleda Falconbridge","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/falconbridgemusic","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/falconbridgemusic","article_published_time":"2011-10-14T16:29:50+00:00","article_modified_time":"2013-07-15T17:01:52+00:00","author":"aneleda","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"aneleda","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/mbouchard.com\/aneleda\/london-town#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/mbouchard.com\/aneleda\/london-town"},"author":{"name":"aneleda","@id":"https:\/\/mbouchard.com\/aneleda\/#\/schema\/person\/9c4b99d167fa9430dc1e3a0cc8f6bcd3"},"headline":"There Was a Bard in London Town","datePublished":"2011-10-14T16:29:50+00:00","dateModified":"2013-07-15T17:01:52+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/mbouchard.com\/aneleda\/london-town"},"wordCount":983,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/mbouchard.com\/aneleda\/#\/schema\/person\/9c4b99d167fa9430dc1e3a0cc8f6bcd3"},"articleSection":["Original Songs"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/mbouchard.com\/aneleda\/london-town","url":"https:\/\/mbouchard.com\/aneleda\/london-town","name":"There Was a Bard in London Town - Aneleda Falconbridge","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/mbouchard.com\/aneleda\/#website"},"datePublished":"2011-10-14T16:29:50+00:00","dateModified":"2013-07-15T17:01:52+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/mbouchard.com\/aneleda\/london-town#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/mbouchard.com\/aneleda\/london-town"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/mbouchard.com\/aneleda\/london-town#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/mbouchard.com\/aneleda"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"There Was a Bard in London Town"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/mbouchard.com\/aneleda\/#website","url":"https:\/\/mbouchard.com\/aneleda\/","name":"Aneleda Falconbridge","description":"The Fyne and Nice Workes of Aneleda Falconbridge","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/mbouchard.com\/aneleda\/#\/schema\/person\/9c4b99d167fa9430dc1e3a0cc8f6bcd3"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/mbouchard.com\/aneleda\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":["Person","Organization"],"@id":"https:\/\/mbouchard.com\/aneleda\/#\/schema\/person\/9c4b99d167fa9430dc1e3a0cc8f6bcd3","name":"aneleda","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/mbouchard.com\/aneleda\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e375c068120ccaceb2cc2bddda9e3ef7?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e375c068120ccaceb2cc2bddda9e3ef7?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","caption":"aneleda"},"logo":{"@id":"https:\/\/mbouchard.com\/aneleda\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/falconbridgemusic"],"url":"https:\/\/mbouchard.com\/aneleda\/author\/aneleda"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mbouchard.com\/aneleda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/591","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mbouchard.com\/aneleda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mbouchard.com\/aneleda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mbouchard.com\/aneleda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mbouchard.com\/aneleda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=591"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/mbouchard.com\/aneleda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/591\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1081,"href":"https:\/\/mbouchard.com\/aneleda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/591\/revisions\/1081"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mbouchard.com\/aneleda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=591"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mbouchard.com\/aneleda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=591"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mbouchard.com\/aneleda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=591"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}