Fairport Convention – Wat Tyler (Guitar)

    F               C
And on the field of Blackheath

   F                   C
Us commons covered the earth

     G             C
More men than ever I did see

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Poor honest men from birth

A                E        A            E
Men came up from Kent and out of Essex too

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Naught but the Thames divides us and unites us onwards through

        A           E        A            E
All the villages of England, on to London town

      B                                  A                 B
Where we poor men would see our king and lay our grievance down

    A            E                    A                 E
Wat Tyler led us men from Kent, rough hands were shaken there

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King Richard and the commons, our bold resolve and prayer

   A                   E            A           E
We knew our king would hear us, our loyalty was clear

    B                              A                    B
The bloody lawyers' poll tax had a-brought us labourers here

    A               E             A             E
And yet he wouldn't see us, so to London we did roar

        B                                   A               B
And the poor there and the Essex men, burst down the prison door

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What happened at the Tower was justice, rough in part

    B                                 A           B
The murders of the Flemish boys, sat uneasy in my heart

 A                 E             A            E
"Now the king must see us", said Tyler to his men

    B                                    A              B
The very next day young Richard came and met us at Mile End

    G               D
And on the field of Blackheath

   G                   D
Us commons covered the earth

     A             D
More men than ever I did see

     G               A  B
Poor honest men from birth

A               E                 A                     E
Kent and Essex, Bedford, Sussex received King Richard's word

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No harm nor blame would come to them if home they would return

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Lincoln, Cambridge, Stafford too, received our young king's favour

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Though thirty thousand left us there, believing it was over

    A             E                 A            E
But Tyler, he was not convinced and told us to remain

   B                                 A                B
"I want to hear his words again, for nothing much has changed"

A           E                          A              E
Tyler, he approached the king and took Richard by the arm

        B                                  A                  B
And his rough but friendly gesture, caused Richard's knights alarm

 A                  E          A               E
"Ah, me lord " said Tyler, "companions we will be"

 B                                A                 B
"I shall trust in you my lord, if you will trust in me"

A                E          A                  E
So he called for water, and then he called for ale

        B                                            A                      B
And his manner shocked young Richard's knights and I watched the Lord Mayor pale

   A                E                   A          E
"I know this man" a voice accused, "Wat Tyler is a thief"

    B                                          A              B
The Lord Mayor feared he'd harm the king, that was his true belief

    A                    E                  A               E
And there at Smithfield, drew his sword and cut our captain down

        B                                     A              B
And the heart went out of all of us, with his blood upon the ground

    G               D
And on the field of Blackheath

   G                   D
Us commons covered the earth

     A             D
More men than ever I did see

     G               A  B
Poor honest men from birth

      A               E                A                E
Young Richard, he was merciful when he pardoned one and all

    B                                    A               B
But home to Kent like beaten dogs, still serfs we had to crawl

        G                D               G                   D
But how precious was our liberty and the hope that filled us all

A                 D             Em           D  G
Left poor Tyler's severed head upon a bloody pole...