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Steeleye Span: Montrose

Montrose

Montrose / Hunting the Wren
Steeleye Span

Chrysalis/Festival K7422 (single, Australia, 1978)

[Hart / Prior / Kemp / Carthy / Kirkpatrick]

On March 7, 1978, Steeleye delivered at the Bournemouth Winter Gardens what just may be their finest ever live performance. The evening concert was recorded for what was to become the Live at Last album. A highlight of that magical night was the 15 minute epic Montrose, a ballad about James Graham, Marquis of Montrose, which Tim Hart describes as the most complicated arrangement ever undertaken by the band.

Upon Australian release of Live at Last in late 1978, Festival Records was given exclusive permission to edit this mammoth track down to an acceptable single length to promote the forthcoming live album. This eight hours editing work with a final length of [3:56] was released as Australian-only single with the B-side Hunting the Wren and reissued in 1981 on the rare Australian-only LP Recollections and in 1999 on the CD A Rare Collection 1972-1996.

Lyrics

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Notes

Alexander the Great
The “As Alexander he did reign” line was written by Montrose himself (“I'll never love Thee more”)
And God who made ...
The line in the poem from which this was copied (The Execution of Montrose, in the poetry book The Lays of the Scottish Cavaliers, by William Edmonstoune Aytoun) reads “And God who made shall gather them”. Maddy sings “that”, but it doesn't make sense and it's wrong besides.
Argyll
Marquis of Argyll
Chorus
The chorus (“I'll serve thee ...”) and the “Alexander” line was written by Montrose himself (“I'll never love Thee more”), though he wrote “all with bays” whereas Maddy Prior swapped two words to “with all bays” in her rendering.
Covenant
Presbytertian agreement which proclaimed Scottish independence from England
James the King
James the 6th of Scotland
Laud
William Laud, Archbishop of Canterbury, whose new prayer book caused a riot at St. Giles church in Edinburgh
Macleod
The laird Neil Macleod of Assynt betrayed Montrose to his Covenant enemies, after the wounded and lost Montrose had gone to Macleod for help and protection after his defeat at Carbisdale. Macleod's payment was promised in gold and oatmeal (very important in Scotland), but he is said never to have gotten all the gold and half the oats were said to be sour. He is much hated because of this vile deed.
Montrose
James Graham (1612 - 1650), 5th Earl and 1st Marquis of Montrose
No refuge on earth
This is a quote from a Covenant minister: “And so we see there is no refuge on earth against the Lord.”
Silver Arrow
The Silver Arrow was a prize for archery given at Montrose's university, St. Andrews (he attended St. Salvator's College there). Argyll himself had won it seven years before Montrose did, when he too was a student there.

Battles

Tippermuir, September 1, 1644
Montrose (3000) defeats Covenant army (7000)
Aberdeen, September 13, 1644
Montrose (1500) defeats Burleigh (2500)
Inverlochy, February 2, 1645
Montrose (1700) defeats Campbell (3000) on Loch Eil's shore, Montrose losses 4, Campbell lost 1700+
Auldearn, May 1, 1645
Alford, July 2, 1645
Kilsyth, August 15, 1645
Philiphaugh, September 13, 1645
Montrose (500) defeated by David Leslie (4000), Montrose exiled in France
Carbisdale, April 27, 1650
Montrose defeated by David Leslie
May 21, 1650
Montrose hanged for treason in Edinburgh

Further reading

Acknowledgements

Thanks to Dave Tomlinson, Tim McDaniel, Julie Douglas, and Patricia Morrison for text and information!