The Minstrel's Corner ~ "We Be Soldiers Three" ~ Owain Phyfe, Charry Garcia, & Friends ~FlaRF 2010

A mash-up of musicians from Wolgemut, Celtic Mayhem,and The Harper & The Minstrel join Owain Phyfe and Charry Garcia of the New World Renaissance Band at the Minstrels Corner stage of the 2010 Florida Renaissance Festival for some really fun jam sessions that included this little gem ensemble performance of We Be Soldiers Three.

Featuring Owain Phyfe leading the vocals and playing his renaissance guitar (the Chitarra Battente), Charry Garcia displaying his virtuoso fingerwork on the charango, Jack Stamates of Celtic Mayhem on the violin, Michael Gartner (Micha of Wolgemut) on an authentic replica of a medieval vielle (fore-runner to the modern violin), Michael Huebner (Albrecht of Wolgemut) on drum and playing the tambourine with his foot, Jay Michaels (of The Harper and the Minstrel) on the celtic harp, Abby Michaels (of The Harper and The Minstrel) on flute, and everybody (musicians and audience alike) joining enthusiastically in on the chorus.

Filmed during the last Minstrel Corner session of Monday Feb 15, 2010 at Quiet Waters Park in Deerfield Beach, Florida. While this session of the 2010 Florida Renaissance Festival was technically an Owain Phyfe show, these final evening performances at the minstrel corner just before the closing Pub Sing quickly became something of a tradition for other available musicians to come jam at, sort of a pre-pub-sing or Musicians Pub Sing East. Some really fantastic stuff came out of these mash-up jam sessions.

Ive actually got about half a dozen different versions of this song filmed from different days at the fair, with slightly different mixes of performers (but always with Owain and Charry). They are all wonderful and slightly different in nuance and performance, however I didnt want to overwhelm the viewers by posting too much stuff that was really similar to each other. Still, if you all would like me to post other versions of this song by Owain and friends that I have recorded, please let me know in your comments.

This song, We Be Soldiers Three, or Wee Be Soldiers Three, or We Be Souldiers 3, dates back at least to the time of the 30-years war in Europe or even earlier. Owain jokes that It was found in the collection of King Henry VIII himself, the artist formerly known as Prince . Lyrics and music for this song was published in the music collection Deuteromelia in 1609 by Thomas Ravenscroft. It is interesting that the Deuteromelia version actually has a final verse that Owain does not sing here. I list it at the end just for your information.

It is believed the song refers to English mercenaries in the Swedish Army marching out of Holland to attack the Germans, Spanish, and other Catholic armies. English, Irish, and Scottish mercenaries were common in the armies of the low country during the long period of catholic-protestant wars and skirmishes of the 1500s and 1600s. The picture of the soldiers in the end credits of this video are not actually English soldiers but are Irish Kerne (mercenaries) from a little later in the same general era as our proverbial 3 soldiers in the song, shown here in Stettin during the Thirty Years War, probably serving as auxiliaries to the Army of King Gustav Adolphus of Sweden. The original German legend around this picture, sketched by G. Kaler in August of 1631, translates as "In such bizarre costumes, the 800 Irishmen (or madmen) walk around Stettin They are resilient and resourceful people who, if they dont have bread to eat, dig. When necessity demands, they can walk twenty miles a day. In addition to their muskets, they are armed with bows and arrows and long knives." Undoubtedly they also armed themselves with a good drink whenever they could convince anybody to stand them a round, just like the soldiers in the song...

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Lyrics to:
We Be Souldiers Three
Thomas Ravenscroft, 1609:
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We be souldiers three,
pardona moy je vous en pree,
lately come forth from the low country
with never a penny of money.

Here good fellow I drinke to thee,
pardona moy je vous en pree,
to all good fellowes where ever they be,
with never a penny of money.

Here good fellow I'll sing you a song,
sing for the brave and sing for the strong
to all those living and those who have gone
with never a penny of money.

And he that will not pledge me this,
pardona moy je vous en pree,
payes for the shot what ever it is,
with never a penny of money.


(and the last verse not sung in this video)

Charge it againe boy, charge it againe,
pardona moy je vous en pree,
As long as there is any incke in thy pen
With never a penny of money.