Over the Hills & Far Away - goosebumps English for song

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🎖️ Over the Hills and Far Away – Traditional British March Ballad
🎵 Folk Ballad | 🎙️ Traditional Arrangement | 🥁 March Tune

Stunningly, “Over the Hills and Far Away”, one of the most enduring songs in the English-speaking folk tradition, has roots reaching back to the 17th century. Its earliest known appearances include John Gay’s Beggar’s Opera (1728) and George Farquhar’s The Recruiting Officer (1706), though some verses likely date earlier. It has worn many faces: as a recruiting song, a nursery rhyme, a soldier’s lament, and even a military march. Remarkably, it remains vivid today, from traditional folk sessions to its prominent use in the Sharpe television series (1993–2008), where it was adopted as a recurring martial theme.

Across the past 50 years, Over the Hills and Far Away has been recorded by artists such as John Tams, Jim Moray, The Oysters Band, and Alfred Deller. It appears in countless folk anthologies and military songbooks, its melodic and thematic resilience adapting to each generation’s context — from battlefield to fireside.

🎙️ My version honours both the lyrical and martial heritage of the song. I’ve set the traditional stanzas to the stirring British army march tune of the same name, arranged for guitar, side drum, flute, piccolo, concertina, bagpipes, and voice. The rhythm of marching underlies the tune — a steady forward motion toward duty, memory, and home.

🔽 The lyrics I have used are shown below:


#TraditionalFolk #BritishBallads #OverTheHills #FolkSong #MilitaryBallads #WarOfTheSpanishSuccession #Sharpe #FifeAndDrum #QueenAnnesWar #FolkMusic #AlanWagstaffMusic


Here's forty shillings on the drum,
for those who volunteer to come,
to 'list and fight the foe today,
over the hills and far a-way.

Over the hills and o'er the plain,
through Flanders, Portugal and Spain.
Queen Anne has called and we obey,
over the hills and far away.

When duty calls me I must go,
to stand and face another foe.
But part of me will always stray,
over the hills and far away.

Over the hills and o'er the plain,
through Flanders, Portugal and Spain.
Queen Anne has called and we obey,
over the hills and far away.

Then fall in lads behind the drum
with colours blazing like the sun,
along the road to come what may,
'Over the Hills and Far Away.'

Over the hills and o'er the plain,
through Flanders, Portugal and Spain.
Queen Anne has called and we obey,
over the hills and far away.

If I should fall and rise no more,
like many comrades did before,
then ask the fifes and drums to play,
'Over the Hills and Far Away.'

Over the hills and o'er the plain,
through Flanders, Portugal and Spain.
Queen Anne has called and we obey,
over the hills and far a-way.