‘Brave Lord Willoughby’ is an English Patriotic song about Peregrine Bertie, ‘Lord Willoughby’ and his military service in the lowlands during the 1580s. He was general over the English army in the Low Countries during much of the Anglo Spanish War, seeing many battles and sieges throughout his career.
The song seemingly references the Siege of Bergen, a decisive English and Dutch victory over the Spanish in 1588 in which Peregrine headed the English forces. An outnumbered Anglo-Dutch army defeated a Spanish force four times larger. The original ballad of the song states how the Englishmen killed ‘Five thousand Spaniards’ and its title refers to the Spanish army being forty thousand men, yet it could just be 16th century exaggeration, as many ballads did. Bergen ended with 1000 Spanish casualties, and almost none on the English side, it seems the most plausible.
He would further fight in the French Wars of Religion in 1590, fighting alongside French Protestants and Henri IV of France before he converted to Catholicism in the siege of Paris. His last years in military service would be in the late 1590’s, being appointed on the Anglo-Scottish border. He would die there in 1601.
The song itself seems to not have a definitive date of origin, to my knowledge. I think I found the original publication, a ballad in early modern English matching the same style as other Elizabethan songs, yet it is undated. It’s listed as published for ‘W.O.’ I haven’t a clue of who the initials might belong to.
Recording done by the band ‘Peasants All’ I don’t own the music in any way.
7 сен 2024
