“On the Trail of the Mortimers”
This song was written in conjunction with the Mortimer History Society for Philip Hume’s book about the noble family.
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A performance in Coldridge – a review
The Legendary Ten Seconds Concert at Coldridge
Nestling deep in the Mid-Devon countryside is the hill-top village of Coldridge where the windswept St Matthews Church is hiding secrets relating to the mystery of The Princes in the Tower.
The Church and its links to Richard III and Edward V are currently being investigated by Philippa Langley’s Missing Princes Project.
Maybe in an attempt to stir up some mediaeval spirits of the past, it was very fitting that on 5 March 2018 the folk rock band the Legendary Ten Seconds came to Coldridge and presented an excellent concert to the village.
The atmospheric and acoustic setting of the Church resonated with original and very entertaining music evocative of the Tudor Period. It was very special to hear the mediaeval harmonies sung so well in that ancient building.
The bands highly competent musicians comprised Ian Churchward on guitar and vocals, Elaine Churchward vocals, Rob Bright lead guitar and Lord Zarquon (Mike) on keyboards.
We were entertained by a range of songs, composed by the band, featuring;
WRITTEN AT RISING (about a letter written in June 1469 by the Duke of Gloucester at Castle Rising)
LORD ANTHONY WOODVILLE (a song about Elizabeth Woodville’s oldest brother who was looking after Edward V at Ludlow)
THE LADY ANNE NEVILLE ( sung by Elaine )
FELLOWSHIP OF THE WHITE BOAR
KING IN THE CAR PARK ( sung by Elaine )
HOW DO YOU REBURY A KING (the reburial of Richard III in Leicester)
RAGGED STAFF instrumental
THE GOLD IT FEELS SO COLD (about Edward IV’s campaign in France 1475)
THE YEAR OF THREE KINGS (Edward IV, Edward V and Richard III 1483)
THE COURT OF KING RICHARD III (the visit of a knight from Silesia to the Court of Richard III in Nottingham in 1484)
ACT III SCENE IV (using the words written by Shakespeare in Act III, Scene IV of the play called Richard III)
The above three photographs showing the band recording their album “Murrey & Blue”
WHITE SURREY (Richard III at the battle of Bosworth)
HOUSE OF YORK (the first song that The Legendary Ten Seconds recorded about Richard III)
I spoke to several villagers after the concert and all were in agreement that it was a thoroughly enjoyable and special experience for the Church, and who knows – was that the armour of our Tudor Knight, Sir John Evans, we heard clinking away in time to the music ? !
John Dike
Coldridge
Devon.
Recording the Murrey and Blue album
The Mediaeval Free Company
Here is another video from the Legendary Ten Seconds
, this time in honour of a group of Roses 
re-enactors …
Below is an army featuring a zombie, which is how “David” must include Sir Hugh Swynford in the 1470-1 battles.
A “The Legendary Ten Seconds” Christmas
Murrey-and-Blue by The Legendary Ten Seconds to be released on 1st November 2017 which is the anniversary of when Richard, later Richard III, was created the Duke of Gloucester in 1461.
A concept album of songs by The Legendary Ten Seconds about the Wars of the Roses and England in the late fifteenth century.
Featuring the following songs:-
- The Boars Head, a song inspired by the chapter in a book by Toni Mount about a medieval Christmas.
- John Judde, who died at a battle at St Albans, another song inspired from Toni Mount’s book about life in medieval London.
- The Medieval Free Company, inspired by a display of archery and medieval life of a Wars of the Roses reenactment group at Buckland Abbey.
- Plantagenet Pavane, a stately dance usually in slow duple time but in true Legendary Ten Seconds style this instrumental is played in triple time.
- Francis Cranley, a song about the main character in a Ricardian novel called The Woodville Connection written by Kathy Martin.
- The Woodville Household, a song for the fifteenth century reenactment group who portray the retinue of Sir Anthony Woodville.
- The Month of May, a fictional exchange of letters written during 1483.
- John Nesfield’s Retinue, this instrumental is for the retinue of John Nesfield.
- The Seventh of August, Henry Tudor lands at Mill Bay in August 1485 with his French mercenaries. A song inspired by a book written by Chris Skidmore.
- The Dublin King, a song about Lambert Simnel and the battle of Stoke in 1487,
inspired after reading a book of the same name by John Ashdown-Hill.
- Lambeth MS 474, an instrumental for the book of hours of Richard III
- Shining Knight, written by Riikka Katajisto and Ian Churchward for all the Ricardian ladies who have fallen in love with Richard III of which there are very many.
- Court of King Richard III, a new 2017 recording of the song which was originally featured on the Tant le desiree album. The version of this song features new bass guitar and singing.
- White Surrey August 1485, another new 2017 recording of the song which was
originally featured on the Tant le desiree album which features a mix of new recordings and also old recordings of the original version of this popular song.
Album artwork painted by G Harman of Red fox illustrations.
Ian Churchward vocals, guitars and mandola.
Lord Zarquon keyboards, bass and drums.
David Clifford bass guitar on John Jud
de, The Medieval Free Company, Court of King Richard III and White Surrey August 1485.
Rob Bright guitar on John Judde, John Nesfield’s Retinue and The Seventh of August.
Pippa West vocals on The Boars Head, The Medieval Free Company, Francis Cranley and The Month of May.
Elaine Churchward vocals on The Seventh of August.
Camilla Joyce vocals on the 2017 versions of Court of King Richard III and White Surrey.
John Bessant lap steel guitar on The Dublin King and Lambeth MS 474.
All songs written by Ian Churchward except Shining Knight written by Riikka Katajisto and Ian Churchward.
All songs arranged by Lord Zarquon.
Recorded in Torbay at Rock Lee and Rainbow Starshine studios for Richard The Third Records.
THE MONTH OF MAY (1483)
Dearly beloved I greet you this day
So much has happened in the month of May
The stench from the street assaults my nose
How I do long for the scent of a rose
The news of the queen is very disturbing
Remaining in sanctuary so we are learning
The date of the coronation is set
One Sunday in June it’s not happened yet
Dearly beloved I greet you good day
So much has happened since the month of May
Of true honesty there’s nought to be had
And the stench from the Thames it is terribly bad
The news of Lord Hastings is very disturbing
Of his execution this we are learning
The date of the coronation draws near
Of its cancellation I really do fear
Lannister and York: Kasabian’s III Ray (The King)
A very unusual video came down my timeline the other day; at first I thought it was a joke (ok, ok, I’m older than God and am no longer in touch with the current music scene!) but it seems I was very wrong. Successful Leicester band Kasabian have released a music trailer for their new song III Ray–The King (which contains the lyrics ‘King for a Day) which uses the finding of Richard’s remains as a basis. It is funny but silly, and certainly won’t be to everyone’s taste, but even if it’s taking the mickey, it seems to be poking fun in a non-vicious way.
In the video, a female history freak holds seances and lights candles in a carpark and then, magically, Richard appears! Stunned and dazed, the King is dragged through the streets of Leicester like a celebrity lumbered by his ‘biggest fan’. He ends up in a pub, where he immediately notices the low necklines on the female population, and finds out that beer is much stronger in the 21st c than in the 15th! At the end though, magic doesn’t last and he can only be ‘king for a day.’
Richard is played by Michael Socha , star of THIS IS ENGLAND, and at least is in the right age group and wearing clothes that are actually based on those in Richard’s portraits (better than what we’ve recently seen on certain documentaries fronted by ‘historians’, ahem.)
Perhaps the most interesting part of the Kasabian video is that ‘the fan’ is played by Lena Headey, star of the wildly successful series GAMES OF THRONES, in which she plays the scheming and incestuous Cersei Lannister. GOT is, in part, based on Wars of the Roses, and many characters are amalgamations of historical figures mixed with the author’s own ideas. Some believe Cersei is partly based on Elizabeth Woodville and partly on Margaret of Anjou. The character also did the infamous ‘Walk of Shame’ which was clearly based on Jane Shore’s penance…only it was much, much worse.
Richard III – the musical
There has been attempt to write
this already and some of the songs are available. The songwriter in question, who died during the process, was Anthony Newley, who would have been 86 today.
So how do they compare to other music on the subject?
Now available:
On Richard The Third Records
Release date 22nd August 2017.
A new version of the song originally featured on their album Tant le Desiree by The Legendary Ten Seconds.
Featuring
Ian Churchward singing, playing guitar and mandolin
Lord Zarquon with the sound of the mellotron and drums
David Clifford playing his Rickenbacker bass guitar
Camilla Joyce performing backing vocals
Artwork by Frances Quinn
Available in digital format only on CD Baby, itunes, and Amazon.
Recorded in Torbay at Rock Lee and Rainbow Starshine studios
See here for further details.
“HIS STANDARD PROUDLY ON DISPLAY
THE BURNISHED ARMOUR SHINES
RICHARD UPON WHITE SURREY
HIS KNIGHTS FALL IN BEHIND
THE MEDIEVAL CANNONS BLAST
AT HENRY TUDOR’S MEN
RICHARD UPON WHITE SURREY
FACING DEATH AGAIN
THE HORSES REACHING GALLOP
THE LANCES COMING DOWN
RICHARD UPON WHITE SURREY
THUNDER ON THE GROUND
MY HORSE, MY HORSE MY WHITE SURREY
FOR YORK AND ENGLAND MY WHITE SURREY”
A “Legendary Ten Seconds” review
It is unlikely you will ever read another book quite like this one. Ian Churchward describes it as ‘The story of how I wrote and recorded lots of Ricardian songs’ – the term ‘Ricardian’ denoting support for King Richard III. Ian sets the scene with amusing anecdotes about his early (pre-Ricardian) music adventures with different bands, one of them having a record played on the John Peel Show in 1987.
People come to King Richard III by many different roads. For Ian, it was when his wife called him away from his music to come and watch a TV documentary. He was happily strumming guitar in the basement and was not sure he wanted to – but as he is interested in history, he decided to watch for a few minutes. He ended up watching the whole programme which was, in his words, ‘the most amazing documentary I have ever seen’. It was about the finding of King Richard’s skeleton in a Leicester carpark and it gave Ian the idea of writing a song about Richard – it was called ‘The House of York’, lamenting the treachery and Tudor lies that caused the demise of the Plantagenet dynasty. Ian and band member, Lord Zarquon, collaborated on the arrangement: acoustic guitar, mellotron flute intro, church organ sounds and drums. The words of this song (and many others that followed) are reproduced in the book.
Ian explains how King Richard has been maligned and puts the record straight about his right to take the throne, when his nephews were declared illegitimate and thus unable to accede. The book takes us through the various Ricardian-themed albums that followed the first song, the lyrics interspersed with short explanatory historical narratives.
We learn how The Legendary Ten Seconds got their name – which is so unusual that people have no trouble finding their music on the internet! The songs are best described as mediaeval English folk rock: the mood varies from catchy and singalong (The Year of Three Kings), haunting (The Boar Lay Slain) to stirring and exhilarating (White Surrey).
I recommend this book to anyone with an interest in music and in King Richard III. Buy it and sing along at a Legendary Ten Seconds gig.
Sunnes And Roses – A New Release by The Legendary Ten Seconds
Review by Elke Paxson
Sunnes And Roses – it’s finally here, the new album by The Legendary Ten Seconds. This new one focuses on the history and some of the events and people during the War of The Roses. Like the music of the 3 CDs about Richard III, this is a unique and quite excellent mix of English Folk with a touch of Medieval music and a hint of Rock.
The new album starts off with a song commemorating the battle of Towton, the biggest battle ever fought on English soil and the battle that brought Edward IV to the throne. Quite fitting – the song has a powerful intro with the sound of cannons. It moves on with a forceful rhythm and it has a really rich sound to it.
List of the Dead – this one has a foot tapping rhythm and it’s needed as the lyrics tell of the many battles, the long list of the dead through the many years of the “Cousins’ War”. Quite superbly done.
The Jewel – is a really pretty song. It tells the story of the stunning “Jewel of Middleham” found in 1985 by Ted Seaton. There is a beautiful trumpet intro before a number of other instruments are added – acoustic guitar, percussion, strings and tambourine.
Good King Richard – this is a very nice and rousing duet with Camilla Joyce and Violet Sheer. It’s going back and forth between accusations and King Richard’s side – very well done with great musical sound and sound effects! Love the song.
Sunnes And Roses – an excellent instrumental. The guitar picking is just outstanding!! It has a very memorable sound!
Battle In The Mist – is a haunting an engaging song about the Battle of Barnet. It’s a good story and its instrumentation and the rhythm come together quite nicely.
Richard of York – this song is about the pretender Perkin Warbeck or was he…. Love the beautiful guitar intro of this song. The harmonies, strings and the guitar sound make it so very beautiful.
King’s Daughter – the second instrumental on this album. This is a really pretty combination of a love song with a fine medieval touch to it.
Middleham Castle on Christmas Eve – one of my all-time favourite songs. It brings everything together – beautiful lyrics that combine the past with the present, the instruments, the sound of the percussions, the harmonies. Fantastic.
A Warwick – the title tells the colourful story of the Kingmaker, the powerful Earl of Warwick. The song moves along nicely and has a swift beat to it.
Souvente Me Souvene – Remember me often, is another instrumental and also the motto of Harry Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham.
Autumn Rain – and speaking of Buckingham….this one is also about him or rather about the “washed out” October rebellion of 1483 that he was subsequently beheaded for. The song is pretty neat and the sound effects are quite fitting.
A Herald’s Lament – a sad song for sure, but it’s not a slow song as you might expect. It tells the story of a herald’s return to an unknown place – perhaps the city elders of York or King Richard’s mother Cecily.
Tewkesbury Medieval Fair – Time to go back in time yet again. This is a really nice song about the annual medieval fair in Tewkesbury. The way it presented it’s easy to imagine yourself being there.
Ian Churchward and The Legendary Ten Seconds have produced another tremendous album full of expertly written songs, fabulous music with a rich sound that brings history to life in a very profound way. ENJOY!
For anyone who might be interested in this fabulous new album, it is available on Amazon.com, at CDbaby.com for download and it should be available in CD format from the Richard III Society by the 31st of January 2017.
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