Tensions between the band grew during the production in 1970 of their first album, Hark! The Village Wait to the point where they never again worked together after its completion, but the music itself shows no signs of these difficulties. While having a rock sensibility there is a greater sense of the authentic folk tradition than even in the best of Fairport, and a particular beauty arising from the two pairs of voices. The Woods being replaced by admired folk stalwart Martin Carthy, with violinist Peter Knight to widen the musical textures, the group late in 1970 recorded their most admired record Please to see the King. Ten Man Mop followed in 1971, more accomplished but generally felt to be less exciting. The expensive gatefold sleeve swallowed the band's royalties, and was referred to as a tombstone, since Hutchings and Carthy then left, to pursue Hutchings' new vision of a specifically English strand of folk rock with The Albion Band, and Steeleye Mk 2 folded.
However the inclusion of the less celebrated and more rock orientated replacements Rick Kemp and Bob Johnson led to the most commercially successful phase in the band's existence, vocalist Maddy Prior becoming the primary focus of the band, and a run of well received albums, from Below the Salt and Now we Are Six, their first with drummer Nigel Pegrum, to their eighth, and most commercially successful, All Around my Hat, in 1975.
Still active, they have a claim to be one of the longest-lived and perhaps the most commercially successful of all the folk rock bands of the era, thanks to their hit singles Gaudete and All Around My Hat, 3 top 40 albums and even a certified "gold" record with All Around My Hat.
Tim Hart died of lung cancer on 24 December 2009, aged 61.
Prince Charlie Stuart
Steeleye Span Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
He was a gallant sight to behold
With his fine tartan hose on his bonnie round leg
And his buckles all pure shining gold
The tartan my love wore was the finest Stuart Kilt
With his soft skin all under it as white as any milk
It's no wonder that seven hundred highlanders were killed
In restoring my Charlie to me
My love was six foot two without stocking or shoe
In proportion my true love was built
Like I told you before upon Culloden Moor
Where the brave highland army was killed
Prince Charlie Stuart was my true love's name
He was the flower of England and a pride to his name
Ah but now they have banished him over to Spain
And so dear was my Charlie to me
(repeat last verse)
The song "Prince Charlie Stuart" by Steeleye Span is a tribute to the Scottish Jacobite rebel, Prince Charles Edward Stuart, or "Bonnie Prince Charlie," who led a failed uprising against the English government in 1745. The lyrics describe the singer's love for Charlie, who is portrayed as a heroic and romantic figure. The singer imagines Charlie as the leader of an army, dressed in fine tartan hose and a Stuart kilt, and sings of his bravery in battle. The singer laments the fact that Charlie is no longer in Scotland, having been banished to Spain, and expresses her devotion to him.
Line by Line Meaning
If you had seen my Charlie at the head of an army
Once upon a time, if you had witnessed the sight of Charlie leading an army
He was a gallant sight to behold
It was truly a magnificent view to look at him
With his fine tartan hose on his bonnie round leg
His stunning tartan socks and his beautiful leg drew everyone's attention
And his buckles all pure shining gold
His buckles were golden and sparkled brilliantly
The tartan my love wore was the finest Stuart Kilt
The kilt Charlie wore was made of the best Stuart family tartan
With his soft skin all under it as white as any milk
His skin beneath the kilt was very soft and as white as milk
It's no wonder that seven hundred highlanders were killed
It's not surprising that seven hundred highlanders died
In restoring my Charlie to me
While trying to bring Charlie back to me
My love was six foot two without stocking or shoe
My love was six feet and two inches tall without stockings or shoes
In proportion my true love was built
His body was extremely well-built and proportionate
Like I told you before upon Culloden Moor
As I mentioned earlier when we were on the Culloden Moor
Where the brave highland army was killed
Where everyone was really brave, but still lost their lives
Prince Charlie Stuart was my true love's name
My true love was named Prince Charlie Stuart
He was the flower of England and a pride to his name
He was the best and most noble of all in England, and he took pride in his name
Ah but now they have banished him over to Spain
Unfortunately, now he has been sent to Spain as an exile
And so dear was my Charlie to me
This shows how much Charlie meant to me and how much I valued our love
Contributed by Maya O. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
latenightpilgrim
One of my favourite Span songs
Chiara Aviani Barbacci
He was 5 feet and 10/11 tall, but it’s still some impressive height for that time. It’s more than the average height in that period. Anyway all the people from that period say he was tall.
Dom GiGGio
Folk is better than rock.
De Jure Claims
I find this more affecting than it has any right to be.
Garrett Davis
song makes me cry truly
vincent merarin
La plus belle chanson
TheMercurian
Slightly Wicker Manish.
Survive the Jive
Jacobite revival when??
Hugh Tierney Tierney
@cybertronian2005 James the first was surely the best of them, though he did allow Britain's money to flow out through private cocks.
Kevis Brownson
'45