Sunday October 25th is the 600 years anniversary of the battle of Agincourt.
One of my songs, The Grey Goose Wing is about the battle and the victory parade later in London, as seen through the eyes of an ordinary archer.
Here is a live video from The Green Note in Camden Town featuring Ian Kearey, harmonium and Patrik Anderson, violin. Click here to watch
Agincourt was a defining moment for the English, the small army against the big, the archers (many of them Welsh) against the French knights. Here is what I wrote about it in the sleeve notes to Tales of Love War and Death by Hanging.
‘Why write a song about Agincourt, a battle in Normandy that took place nearly 600 years ago?
After years of civil war and internal division, our King convinced the people that it would be a really good idea to have a little war in a land somewhere far away. There was little chance of achieving any long term strategic objective, rather than to demonstrate the superiority of the English army and make everybody at home feel as if they had just won the world cup. Henry V was a master of propaganda and carefully managed his victory parade in London, giant wooden statues of David and Goliath were built on London Bridge, choirs with faces painted gold chanted praises, while Henry, humbly dressed, rode in on a small grey horse…The merchants loved it’.