For History class:
How and why the war broke out
What the war was like (as a musical!)
What the war did to improve medical science
The years, the battles, Charles, Cromwell, Chopin, Python
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).
Battles, events and personages[edit]
Introduction[edit]
First theme: January 1642 – May 1646[edit]
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]
Interlude: 2 January – 30 January 1649[edit]
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]
Seventeenth-century Marvel AU. Dum-Dum Dugan is a Cavalier driven abroad by Ironsides:
When the soldier (Steve Rogers) had exhausted every story of warfare and battle that he knew, the robbers began offering tales of their own. The man with the red moustaches (Dum Dum Dugan) told of men armed with pikes and halbards and a religion even harder than their iron breastplates, who had swept across his home country, burning and killing whatever they could find, and how he had left his land and gone south with the geese to fight another kingdom's battles in Spain (The Catalan/Roussillon theatre of the 30YW).
