Listen to the track:
🎶 Wembury 1911 🎶
(Measured English folk ballad; sparse acoustic textures and subtle harmony based on the 1911 census and in memory of those who died in the Great War)
(Verse 1)
Old George Woodley, worn and grey
Knew every fold of Wembury clay
His grandson ran the hedgerow line
Fifteen years and full of time
(Verse 2)
Archie Walke was sharp with thread
A mason's son with books unread
He watched the clouds above the shore
Not knowing yet what lay in store
(Chorus)
The land was tilled, the names held fast
The churchbell echoed from the past
But smoke would rise across the sea
And take the youth from field and quay
(Verse 3)
At Blackmore’s gate, young Herbert played
While elder Charles had just been paid
A farmer’s boy, a soldier’s fate
Both watched the dusk from Wembury Gate
(Verse 4)
And Giles, whose brothers learned their sums
Would soon march out with Devon drums
The Gileses stood by orchard wall
They did not know who’d rise or fall
(Bridge)
Their sons grew tall with eyes ahead
The hedge grew close, the barley spread
And though the world still seemed to wait
The soil held more than just its weight
(Chorus)
The land was tilled, the names held fast
The churchbell echoed from the past
But smoke would rise across the sea
And take the youth from field and quay
(Outro)
The sea stayed calm, the lanes lay wide
The fields were sown with quiet pride
And Wembury, with its rooted grace
Looked outward from a steadfast place