More music from the world of Britannia · 10:36pm Aug 31st, 2012
There's gonna be a fair few musical references sneaking into the Britannia stories as we go along. Mostly as I find them very inspirational but also because of the mood and tone they help to set in the culture of my version of Equestria.
So here is a version anyone here who is aware of the 'Sharpe' novels by Bernard Cornwell (and the TV series based on them in particular) will probably recognise
"Over the Hills and Far Away"
-The Regimental Marching song of the Royal Equestrian Expeditionary Force
Hark gentlecolts that have a mind,
To serve the Princess, good and kind,
Come canter along with us today,
Over the hills and far away,
(Chorus)
O'er the hills and o'er the main,
Through Flanquers, Gryphus and Fawntaine.
Celestia commands and we obey.
Over the hills and far away.
'Tis forty bits upon the drum,
To those who volunteer to come,
To 'list and fight the foe today,
Over the hills and far away.
(Chorus)
Then fall in colts, behind the drum,
With colours blazing like the sun,
Along the road to come what may,
Over the hills and far away.
(Chorus)
When evil stalks the land at large,
We'll neither stop nor hold our charge,
But fight to win a better day,
Over the hills and far away
(Chorus)
Let beasts and monsters come and go,
We'll stand ajudged by what we know,
A soldier's life we'll ne'er gainsay,
Over the hills and far away.
(Chorus)
No more from sound of drum retreat,
While Custard Tart and Gum Boot beat,
The Elks and Griffins every day,
Over the hills and far away.
(Chorus)
When duty calls then we must go,
To stand and face another foe,
For part of us will always stray,
Over the hills and far away.
(Chorus)
Through smoke and fire and spear and crust,
Unto the gates of Tartarus,
We shall stand and we shall stay,
Over the hills and far away,
(Chorus)
If I should fall to ride no more,
As many comrades did before,
then ask the fifes and drums to play,
Over the hills and far away.
(Chorus)
At most ceremonial functions only up to the first three verses are sung in recent years. Mostly for length but also, the Ministry of Defence feels that later verses are woefully out of date (referring to the 8th Century Generals Custard Tart & Gum Boot and their campaigns in the Griffin Kingdoms and Cervidas) and could also be thought distateful to the civilian populace in dwelling on the darker side of war.
Here's a link to a rendition of the song that closely matches the traditional tune and lyrics
Oooh...iz dat sum Equestrian Military Bravado?
Someone has to fight for the Harmony of the Homeland, I love it!
324979
Bravado, duty, all that jazz, yes. Equestria does have a martial history beyond the Royal guard, though they are the more visible and acceptable public face of them.
But it is such a heavy subject matter once you get past all the pomp and glamour there will be a fair few sad undertones working their way in and a couple of quite dark ones too. This is still Equestria though. where it seems some of the nastier stuff you'd find in our universe has been dialed back a few notches
Not doing this out of left field though. With the amount of military references in the show (camouflage, helmets, Granny Smith's little full metal jacket routine, that picture of the military pony hanging in the carriage in 'MMMMystery on the Friendship Express, being as fast as a bullet, 'tank') I like to think that if I delve into popular military fiction I'll be able to fit some of it in especially if I apply some Pratchett-esque humour to some of it. The army is a massive source of farce, after all, along with action and tragedy.