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Legends 1 and 2 have already featured songs about King Richard lll and King Lear - this is one of Steve's songs about King Offa of Mercia, who ruled vast swathes of England in Anglo-Saxon times.

lyrics

Offa

1.King Offa he built a dyke
From the Mersey down to the Wye
80 mile long and 12 foot across
With a bank that was 20 foot high
it was high
A bank that was 20 foot high


From the Mersey down to the Thames
From the borders across to the Fens
Wessex and Sussex were under his rule
And a bit later on he took Kent, yes he did
And a bit later on ‘e took Kent.

Oh, he were the King a wonderful King,
And ‘is bloody great dyke was a wonderful thing!

2.At Tamworth he built a great hall
Though he didn’t stay there much at all
He hunted in Gumley in Croft and Great Glen
Put a bloody great lodge in em all, yes ‘e did
A bloody great lodge in em all


At foreign affairs he were great,
And Charlemagne he was his mate
With weapons and firs and all manner of wares
They both did a shitload of trade, yes they did,
Both did a shitload of trade

Oh, he were the King a wonderful King,
And ‘is bloody great dyke was a wonderful thing!


3.For 39 years he did reign
As mighty as old Charlemagne
History books say even up to this day
He was greater than Alfred the Great. yes ‘e was
Greater than Alfred the Great


He were buried in holy ground
In a chapel in Bed-i-ford town
But the river it washed the chapel away
To this day it has never been found. no it ain’t
To this day it has never been found.

Oh, he were the King a wonderful King,
And ‘is bloody great dyke was a wonderful thing

4.Historians follow the lead
Trying to find where the chapel had been
Cos swimmers in summer say deep in the water
A sepulchre sometimes is seen, it is seen,
A sepulchre sometimes is seen


So bye bye King Offa bye bye
From the England that you tried to unite
Thanks for the coin and the lands you purloined
But most of all thanks for the dyke, for the dyke
Most of all thanks for the dyke.

He was the King, the Mercian King
Oh what a man, Oh what a King
For 39 years he was KING OF THE REALM
Invaded the south, he battered the Welsh
He ruled the Hwicce, the Maginsosete
Developed a mint and minted the penny
Remember it all, this wonderful stuff,
But Oh goodness me if that weren’t enough
He build Offa’s dyke so long and so broad

And that’s the main thing we remember him for.

credits

from Legends of Leicester & Leicestershire Vol. III, released December 22, 2022
Written by Steve Cartwright who does main and harmony vocal, guitar - Dave Taylor - harmony vocals and twanging ruler.

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Steve Cartwright Leicester, UK

I am a singer/songwriter (of considerable repute), a poet and an artist and I’ve been around for centuries. I write great songs and you’ll find they span a variety of styles and cover a very wide range of topics. My poems (like my songs) are designed to inform and challenge and to make you laugh and cry. ... more

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