Annotation:Trelawny
X:0 T: No Score C: The Traditional Tune Archive M: K: x
TRELAWNY. AKA - "Song of the Western Men (The)." English, Air and March. England, Cornwall. "Trelawny" or "The Song of the Western Men", is a Cornish patriotic song, composed by Louisa T. Clare in 1861 for lyrics by Robert Stephen Hawker (1804-1875). There is some though that the tune is derived from one in military use in the early 19th century and is believed to have been adopted by the bands of the volunteer Regiments of Cornwall. The tune is also associated with the song 'The Noble Duke of York'. Hawker's words, written 100 years after the events, illustrate the Cornish concern for the fate of Bishop Trelawny, one of the six bishops arrested and put in the Tower by James II. They begin:
A good sword and a trusty hand!
A merry heart and true!
King James's men shall understand
What Cornish men can do!
And have they fixed the where and when?
And shall Trelawny die?
Then twenty thousand Cornish men
Will know the reason why.
