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Will ye go to Flanders?

from Songs our grandparents would have known by Ken Baake

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The lowlands of Flanders (Belgium) have long been a site for European battles. When King Charles II of Spain died in 1700 without an heir, the rest of the European states clashed over who would step in. The War of the Spanish Succession (1702-1713) followed. Two hundred years later the same ground was trampled and blooded by the belligerents of World War I--also fighting over which dynasty would rule the continent. These were the battles of Ypres and Passchendaele.

The traditional Scottish song is several hundred years old, with an update during World War I to add that tragic event to the storyline.

English folk singer June Tabor and colleagues recorded a marvelous version of this song that became part of the soundtrack for the Flanders Fields Museum in Ypres. I visited this museum in 2006, bought the CD, and learned the song. I don't think the CD is available anymore, which is a pity.

The photo is from my trip to Verdun, France. I am looking over the ground, still revealing the torture of thousands of shells from 100 years ago.

lyrics

June Tabor version of Will Ye Go to Flanders?


Will ye go to Flanders, my Mally-O?
Will ye go to Flanders, my bonny Mally-O?
There we'll have ale and brandy,
Sack and sugar-candy;
Oh, will ye go to Flanders, my Mally-O?

Will ye go to Flanders, my Mally-O?
Will ye go to Flanders, my bonny Mally-O?
There you'll see the plaidies swirlin',
And you'll hear the pipies skirlin',
Oh, will ye go to Flanders, my Mally-O?

Will ye go to Flanders, my Mally-O?
Will ye go to Flanders, my bonny Mally-O?
There you'll hear the captain calling,
See the sergeat crawling,
And the soldiers, how they're falling, my Mally-O?

And will ye go to Flanders, my Mally-O?
To see the bold commanders, my bonny Mally-O?
There you'll see the bullets fly,
You'll hear the ladies cry
And the soldiers how they die, my Mally, O.

credits

from Songs our grandparents would have known, track released June 6, 2015
Ken, guitar and vocal.
Alexa Vogelsang, flute
Engineer/Producer, Amy DeVoge
Crossroads Recording Studio,
Texas Tech

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Ken Baake Lubbock, Texas

Ken was born in Baltimore in 1955. He grew up hearing everyone from Johnny Mercer and Ray Charles to the Beatles on the family hi-fi, with a usual Saturday encore of Wagner's operas. Ken has degrees in English and economics and a background in journalism. He is currently an associate professor of English at Texas Tech, teaching classes in rhetoric. ... more

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