OLIVER CROMWELL BY MONTY PYTHON

Only Monty Python can combine the works of Oliver Cromwell and those of Frederic Chopin. There you have it: the great general's career sung to a polonaise. It opens with a typically British and Pythonesque black joke (and a brilliantly told one!) about the height of Charles I Stuart:





Oliver Crom-well... Lord Pro-tec-tor of Eng-land (and his warts!)... Olé!

The Oliver Cromwell Song
(from Monty Python Sings)

The most interesting thing about King Charles the First is 
that he was five feet six inches tall at the start of his reign, 
but only four foot eight inches tall at the end of it. 

Because of...

Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector of England
Puritan. 
Born in 1599 and died in 1658 

(September) 
Was at first 

only 

MP for Huntingdon
But then 

he led the Ironside Cavalry at Marston Moor 

in 1644 and won.
Then he founded the New Model Army 
and praise be! beat the Cavaliers at Naseby 
and the King fled up north 

like a bat! to the Scots.

But under the terms of John Pym's Solemn League and Covenant, 
the Scots handed King Charles the First over to...

Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector of England 

and his warts
Born in 1599 and died in 1658 

(September)
But, alas! disagreement then broke out
Between 

the Presbyterian Parliament and the military 
who meant to have an Independent bent and so
The Second Civil War broke out
and the Roundhead ranks 

faced the Cavaliers 

at Preston, Lancs
and the King lost again, silly thing
(Stupid git)

And Cromwell sent Colonel Pride to purge the House of Commons of 
Presbyterian Royalists, leaving behind only the Rump Parliament...

Which appointed a High Court at Westminster Hall
To indict Charles the First of - tyranny 
Charles was sentenced to death, even though he refused to accept
That the court had 

jurisdiction 
(Say goodbye to his head!)

Poor King Charles laid his head on the block 

- January 1649 -
Down came the axe, 

and in the silence that followed 
the only sound that could be heard was the solitary giggle, of...

Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector of England
Born in 1599 and died in 1658 

(September)
Then he smashed 

Ireland
Set up the Commonwealth 

and more
He crushed the Scots at Worcester, 
and beat the Dutch at sea in 1653 

and then
He dissolved the Rump Parliament
And with Lambert's consent 

wrote the Instrument of Government
Under which Oliver was Protector at last.

The end.

"Oliver Cromwell" is a song recorded by Monty Python in 1980 but not released until 1989 where it featured on their compilation album Monty Python Sings. John Cleese, who wrote the lyric, originally debuted the song on February 2, 1969 in the radio show I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again, where it was introduced as "The Ballad of Oliver Cromwell". It is sung to Frédéric Chopin's Heroic Polonaise, and documents the career of British statesman Oliver Cromwell, from his service as Member of Parliament (MP) for Huntingdon to his installation as Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England. The lead vocals, often heavily multi-tracked, are performed by John Cleese, with interjections by Eric Idle.

"Oliver Cromwell" is sung to the first ("A") section of the Polonaise, including the well-known main theme; it does not use the "B" section. The piano introduction is accompanied by a spoken-word introduction, setting a tone of macabre humour ("The most interesting thing about King Charles the First is that he was five foot six inches tall at the start of his reign, but only four foot eight inches tall at the end of it"), as are the subsequent connecting passages. All three instances of the main theme are given a tutti chorus followed by a recounting of the battles and other events of the period; sound effects are added, mostly sounds of battle and of horses. To the interlude is set King Charles I's trial and execution, with rubato adding atmosphere; the only sound effect is implied to be that of Charles's head falling (followed by a solitary giggle from Cromwell).

Contents

  

• 1Battles, events and personages
  • 1.1Introduction
  • 1.2First theme: January 1642 – May 1646
  • 1.3Connecting passage: 1647
  • 1.4Second theme: 1647 – 19 August 1648
  • 1.5Connecting Passage: 6 December – 20 December 1648
  • 1.6Interlude: 2 January – 30 January 1649
  • 1.7Connecting Passage: 30 January 1649
  • 1.8Third theme: August 1649 – 16 December 1653

Battles, events and personages[edit]

Introduction[edit]

• Charles I of England, 27 March 1625 (5'6") – 30 January 1649 (4'8")

First theme: January 1642 – May 1646[edit]

• Oliver Cromwell (1599 – September 1658), Puritan; MP for Huntingdon
• Ironside Cavalry, equipped and trained by Cromwell
• Marston Moor, 1644; Parliamentary victory
• New Model Army, founded by Cromwell
• Naseby, Parliamentary victory (over the "Cavaliers", the Royalist armies)
• Charles I puts himself into the hands of the Scottish Presbyterian army at Southwell

Connecting passage: 1647[edit]

• John Pym's Solemn League and Covenant; this (1643) agreement between Scotland, England, and Ireland respecting the Presbyterian church in Scotland and (ostensibly) committing England to Presbyterianism was influential in persuading the Scots to deliver Charles I to Parliament (in 1647)

Second theme: 1647 – 19 August 1648[edit]

• Cromwell's "warts and all" quote famously reflects on his strength of character
• Second Civil War; the Independent leanings of the Army led to conflict with the Presbyterians in Parliament, a disagreement exploited by the Royalist faction
• Battle of Preston (1648), Lancashire; the final battle of the Second Civil war was an overwhelming victory for the Independents ("Roundheads") over the combined Royalist ("Cavaliers") and Presbyterian armies

Connecting Passage: 6 December – 20 December 1648[edit]

• Pride's Purge; Thomas Pride drove the Presbyterians from the House of Commons leaving the Rump Parliament

Interlude: 2 January – 30 January 1649[edit]

• A High Court of Justice at Westminster Hall indicted Charles I for the crime of tyranny
• Charles refused to accept that the court had jurisdiction over its King, but was nonetheless sentenced to death
• The sentence was carried out by decapitation, 30 January 1649, at the Banqueting House, Whitehall

Connecting Passage: 30 January 1649[edit]

• The headman failed to utter the customary words, "Behold the head of a traitor!"

Third theme: August 1649 – 16 December 1653[edit]

• Cromwellian conquest of Ireland
• Commonwealth of England
• Battle of Worcester; the defeat of the Scottish army of Charles II (proclaimed) ended the English Civil War and sank the Royalist cause
• First Anglo-Dutch War, 1653
• Dissolution of the Rump Parliament
• Instrument of Government, drafted by John Lambert, making Cromwell Lord Protector