Song of The Western Men

[@Josh-vg2lj]

Still beautiful and pure 15 years later. Hope you're doing well Kev

[@shabbydoll]

Lovely. Just lovely. Cheers, sir.

[@keltickev27]

My pleasure

[@Ukul77]

The ceilidh in Hamilton went very well in January and the folks present really enjoyed this version of Trelawny (which I tried to reproduce for them from your lead). The guitarist that accompanied me was very impressed by your arrangement. So, good on you. Slainte.

[@johnwcowan]

A wonderfully understated rendition. To set the record straight: Except for the couplet "Here's twenty thousand Cornish men / Shall know the reason why", which is indeed traditional, the lyrics were written and published in 1825 by Robert Stephen Hawker, the vicar of Morwenstow on the north coast of Cornwall. He was born in Plymouth, but spent almost his whole life in Cornwall and wrote several poems about its history.

[@papanomidokoro]

Another delight. Now I will have to start claiming a few drops of Cornish blood in addition to the Scots and Irish I already pretend to have. Thanks for your wonderful collection of songs.

[@fruitychink]

I know this song from school fifty years ago . Great to hear it from you. I love all your work Kevin .

[@keltickev27]

+alan mckenzie thanks Alan... Always good to hear from you. I have changed it a bit these days when I do it we sing the slow chorus "And shall Trelawney live, or shall Trelawney die"...etc in harmony if poss!

[@LindsayCurran]

Love both your singing, and the bit of history you included with this. Thank you! Thoroughly enjoyed your rendition

[@johnwcowan]

A wonderfully understated rendition of a song against injustice. To set the record straight: Except for the couplet "Here's twenty thousand Cornish men / Shall know the reason why", which is traditional, the lyrics were written in 1825 by Robert Stephen Hawker, the vicar of Morwenstow on the north coast of Cornwall. He was born in Plymouth, but spent almost his whole life in Cornwall and wrote several poems about its history. The "army" never reached London due to Trelawny's acquittal.

[@mpalardy]

I'm French. I'm Catholic. I'd have been happy to fight for King James. But hearing this, I'd never have underestimated my foe. Indeed, I'd have been proud to fight such a foe with songs as this.

[@cornwallgeezer]

I'm a Cornishman from Penzance, my family were all miners, Onan Hag oll, Kernow bys vyken! English politics out of Cornwall.

[@GillianLazarusofLondon]

The Song of the Western Men is mentioned in JK Rowling's 2020 book 'Troubled Blood'. I wanted to hear it and found this delightful version sung by Kev Thompson.

[@keltickev27]

Gillian Lazarus thanks

[@randomdave30]

This is brilliant this is!

[@Ukul77]

Great version of this song. I will be signing this version (and hopefully doing it justice) next Saturday in Hamilton, Ontario. Slainte!

[@keltickev27]

@LindsayCurran I always try to give the story behind the song. I think it makes them more enjoyable if you have an idea what its all about! Thnx for all your comments today...

[@darkmachete]

Fantastic song! I'm gonna learn how to play this on my guitar! Onen hag oll!

[@grantosjones]

a thing of beauty :)

[@keltickev27]

Thanks David sainté

[@keltickev27]

thnx my friend slainté

[@keltickev27]

@RedStuCrew sorry I don't do tabs. However the song is in A. I am playing with G chord shapes capo 2. The melody really falls under the chords. If you can't see them on the vid let me know and I can give you a chord list. Kev

[@keltickev27]

@Ukul77 thnx my friend....glad it went well for you

[@keltickev27]

@Ukul77 thnx for the feedback...and good luck with it my friend slainté

[@TheJBoy73]

Excellent! Thanks a bunch, might stick my own version up at some point!

[@keltickev27]

thnx my friend...more like 40 years in my case! Keep with it.... slainté

[@christopherfassett9973]

The song actually predates Bishop Trelawny, it was about his grandfather Sir John Trelawny (1592-1664) who was involved in the disputes leading up to the English Civil War (1642-1651) in his position of High Sherrif of Cornwall.

[@keltickev27]

thanks for the info.

[@keltickev27]

sounds like fun....I hope you enjoyed my rendition ;o) slainté

[@keltickev27]

enjoy my friend slainté

[@keltickev27]

I wish! but thanks for the compliment.... slainté

[@keltickev27]

@johnwcowan thnx for the information slainté

[@keltickev27]

thnx my friend...glad it is acceptable.... ;o)

[@keltickev27]

thanks guys...I will try slainté

[@keltickev27]

merci mon ami ;o)

[@TheJBoy73]

This is awesome. Tabs?!

[@keltickev27]

@grantosjones thnx my friend ;o)

[@keltickev27]

if you read 'more info' at the top right....all is explained ;o)

[@keltickev27]

@randomdave30 cheers my friend

[@cornishphilosopher]

I thank ee Me ansome

[@keltickev27]

Its a good one but if I were redoing it I would the chorus that wasn't on my music! It slows down and then... "and shall Trelawney live or shall Trelawney die, here's 20,000 Cornish men would know the reason why!" Try listening to another version for the tune ;o)

[@keltickev27]

@ronsterruby cheers

[@keltickev27]

thnx my friend... Sorry I don't do tabs but the chords are fairly straight forward and the runs fall under the fingers.... come back if you want some help.. slainté

[@keltickev27]

thnx my friend. You can see the chords pretty well on the video. I am playing in G capo 2 puts it up to A. If yuo need some help come back to me ;o)

[@ronmorley3016]

Kev I am making a short video in support of a walking group called Bude Walking for Health. I would like to use your rendering of the song of the Western Man on the video. Is this ok with you?

[@keltickev27]

Absolutely. No problem at all

[@keltickev27]

Of course 😀

[@Kinlochbervie50]

can i ask tho, who is trelawney and why is he so important to the cornish?

[@TheJBoy73]

I would love to know the chords for this dude!

[@Ukul77]

Nadelik Lowen ha Blydhen Nowydh Da.

[@keltickev27]

;o)

[@keltickev27]

Ok...not hard... I play it in A with G chords so capo on 2nd fret Chorus (or 1st half of verse) G D G D GDG 2nd part goes to minor so: Em D Em D Em D G D A D Back to part 1 Try that!

[@robbiespence6504]

nice, but what happened to the chorus? And shall Trelawny live? And shall Trelawny die? Here's twenty thousand Cornish men Will know the reason why!

[@keltickev27]

I know. I do it in the live version.

[@robbiespence6504]

+Kev Thompson Thanks, I was using your version to teach some friends the tune, before I noticed it didn't have the rousing chorus.

[@keltickev27]

I first learnt it from the sheet music which doesn't have the chorus and that led to this version. I now have it in my "live" kitbag and teach Scottish audiences the chorus in harmony

[@johnwcowan]

A wonderfully understated rendition. To set the record straight: Except for the couplet "Here's twenty thousand Cornish men / Shall know the reason why", which is indeed traditional, the lyrics were written and published in 1825 by Robert Stephen Hawker, the vicar of Morwenstow on the north coast of Cornwall. He was born in Plymouth, but spent almost his whole life in Cornwall and wrote several poems about its history. Trelawny's Army never actually reached London, due to the acquittal.