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by Marriott Edgar
Illustrations by John Hassall
Edward III's siege of Calais during the Hundred Years' War lasted many months. Starvation forced the townsfolk to surrender and Edward said they would be spared if six Burghers of Calais would volunteer to be hung. Eustache de Saint Pierre was the first to heroically volunteer and five other burghers then stood by him.
(Marriott Edgar has twelve burghers in this poem, and links them with the side of a football team, which presumably includes a reserve player.)
It were after the Battle of Crecy, The first place they came to were Calais, Said he, "I'll beleaguer this city, | |
Now the burghers knew nowt about Crecy, But they found at the end of a fortnight For the soldiers sat round on their camp-stools, The burghers began to get desperate They stuck it all autumn and winter, So they hung a white flag on the ramparts |
Rushing through gate |
When King Edward heard they had surrendered Then up stood the Lord Mayor of Calais, When the townspeople heard of the hanging With ropes round their necks the twelve heroes At that moment good Queen Phillippa Then down on her knee-joints before them The King was so touched with her pleading, |
The reference 'San Fairy Ann' (Ca ne Fait Rien: 'It doesn't matter') was a more common term when Edgar wrote this poem in the 1930's than it is today. It might have been coined by British servicemen as they struggled to make sense of the language when crossing France in the First World War. The term has been kept alive through the 1965 English comic movie 'San Ferry Ann' and Paul McCartney's lyrics 'San Ferry Anne', written for his 1976 album Wings at the Speed of Sound.
Here's another little story from 1965, which might not make sense unless you were alive around that time.
Bob Hill and his new wife, Betty, are honeymooning in Europe - Transylvania in fact. They are driving along a rather deserted country road. It is late, raining very hard and Bob can barely see ten feet in front of the car.
Suddenly the car skids out of control! Bob attempts to control the car, but to no avail. The car swerves and smashes into a tree. Moments later, Bob shakes his head to clear the fog. Dazed, he looks over at the passenger seat and sees his new wife unconscious, with her head bleeding. Despite the rain and unfamiliar countryside, Bob knows he has to carry her to the nearest phone. Bob carefully picks his wife up and begins trudging down the road.
After a short while, he sees a light. He heads towards the light, which is coming from an old, large house. He approaches the door and knocks. A minute passes then Igor, the butler, opens the door. Bob immediately blurts, "Hello, my name is Bob Hill, and this is my wife, Betty. We've been hurt. Can I please use your phone?"
"I'm sorry," replies the butler, "but we don't have a phone. But my master is a doctor. Come in and I will get him." Bob brings his wife in. An elegant man comes down the stairs. "I'm afraid my assistant may have misled you. I am not a medical doctor I am a scientist. However, it is many miles to the nearest clinic, and I have had basic medical training. I will see what I can do. Igor, bring them down to the laboratory."
With that, Igor picks up Betty and carries her downstairs, with Bob following closely. Igor places Betty on a table in the lab. Bob collapses from exhaustion and his own injuries, so Igor places Bob on an adjoining table. After a brief examination, Igor's master looks worried. "Things are serious, Igor. Prepare a transfusion." Igor and his master work feverishly, but to no avail. Bob and Betty Hill are no more. The Hills' deaths upset the scientist greatly. Wearily, he climbs the steps to his conservatory, which houses his pipe organ. For it is here that he has always found solace. He begins to play, and a stirring, almost haunting melody fills the house.
Meanwhile, Igor is still in the lab tidying up. As the music fills the lab, his eyes catch movement, and he notices the fingers on Betty Hill's hand twitch. Stunned, he watches as Bob's arm begins to rise! He is further amazed as Betty sits straight up! Unable to contain himself, he dashes up the stairs to the conservatory. He bursts in and exclaims:
"Master! Master! . . . The Hills are alive with the sound of music!"
For younger readers, "The Hills are Alive with the Sound of Music" was the first line of a song from the 1965 movie "Sound of Music".