Come join us for a first ever performance of our new song "Mad John Thom" at the "Swing Riots and Bossenden Rising Festival" at Mount Ephraim Gardens on afternoon of Sunday 31st May - an event to step into England's rural past.
Details & tickets: battleofbossendenwood.org/summer-festival/
We've got a video coming we hope to share, but our knackered home computer is struggling to cope with rendering it & keeps crashing (we were overambitious in trying to create some extra graphics and get Alfie involved), so we figured we'd at least share the audio and lyrics now for any interested!
The earliest known version of the lyrics was the 1750s, & it had become a patriotic song for the USA by 1781, when new verses mentioned George Washington. The word 'doodle' likely comes from German 'Dödel' meaning fool/simpleton/nob. It may also reference Low German 'dudel' = playing music badly.
This was was a fast turnaround. Like modern British PMs ... here's a musical parody view of #Starmer's and #Labour's crisis through the lens of Rodgers & Hammerstein's "The Farmer and the Cowman" (Oklahoma!) 🎶
youtu.be/WbT2yTxOMvY
Thanks to everyone who organised & came to today’s festival celebrating the history of the Swing Riots and Battle of Bossenden Wood (31 May 1838) at Mount Ephraim, marking the heritage of English rural protest - we loved sharing some #livemusic #folk so close to home! ☀️🎶❤️ #blackjackdavy
PS: Our “Hollow Chapters” album available here: themarshfamily.bandcamp.com/album/hollow... or here: orcd.co/hollowchapters
In the nick of time for the celebratory weekend in the 🇺🇸, here's "Trumpy Doodle" - our 250th anniversary version of "Yankee Doodle" that you can also download as a song on Bandcamp!
youtu.be/EnZY_08vnHc
#nokings #america250 🎶🚫👑✊
There were two tiers of possible response to the express wishes of Henry Nowak's dignified family in the light of his traumatic murder. One humane and empathetic, the other inhumane and exploitative. This version of "Lyin' Eyes" (Eagles) is for JD Vance and those in the second.
youtu.be/2J95CTmZUUM
"Yankee Doodle" was a ditty (Roud 4501) that predated the American Revolution & was adapted by both British and Americans to mock one another. To mark the 250th anniversary, Trump birthday & #NoKings protest we've made a 2026 arrangement, where you can find the lyrics: themarshfamily.bandcamp.com 🎶
