Light horsemen were light cavalry, either dragoons or hussars; the song isn’t specific. The dragoons had originated in France, the hussars in Hungary but in both cases the idea of a fast moving, lightly armed cavalry was copied by other nations, including Britain. The most famous incident involving light cavalry was, of course, the disastrous charge of the Light Brigade in the Crimean War but this song is from an earlier conflict, the Napoleonic Wars.
I feel that this is one of the most moving songs in all of the tradition. It appears that our ancestors felt the same way about it because the song was printed on numerous broadsides up and down the country and was also collected numerous times from the oral tradition in both England and Ireland. The order of the verses seems to vary somewhat from version to version but, since there isn’t really a storyline, this doesn’t matter much. The emphasis is on the feelings of the young woman whose lover has departed for the wars, never to return. Although the wars in this case are the Napoleonic wars, the feelings would be much the same in any subsequent wars, making the song of lasting relevance.
The version I sing is ‘borrowed’ from Nic Jones, one of my favourite singers and guitarists, but he doesn’t know I borrowed it so don’t tell him.
 |
| British Light Dragoon (Napoleonic Era) |
I feel that this is one of the most moving songs in all of the tradition. It appears that our ancestors felt the same way about it because the song was printed on numerous broadsides up and down the country and was also collected numerous times from the oral tradition in both England and Ireland. The order of the verses seems to vary somewhat from version to version but, since there isn’t really a storyline, this doesn’t matter much. The emphasis is on the feelings of the young woman whose lover has departed for the wars, never to return. Although the wars in this case are the Napoleonic wars, the feelings would be much the same in any subsequent wars, making the song of lasting relevance.
The version I sing is ‘borrowed’ from Nic Jones, one of my favourite singers and guitarists, but he doesn’t know I borrowed it so don’t tell him.