Folk & Traditional Song Lyrics www.traditionalmusic.co.uk Too Close to the Wind 
Too Close to the Wind 
Farewell to you, my faithful Nancy And a thousand times adieu; For the constable comes up from Brackley Market And a hundred volunteers too. No more will we hide in the forest For fear they might run us to ground For the wild sea, we'd sailed upon it Too close to the wind. 
For twenty years, we have roved the highways Of Northamptonshire. From Daventry* down to the southern byways We robbed both the rich and the poor. For ofttimes our families were starving And the highway it kept them alive, So the wild sea, we sailed upon it Too close to the wind. 
Tonight I lie in a darkened dungeon Condemned on the gallows to die, While the man who gave us away is only Bound for Australia. No man could be found to defend us Naught but abuse came our way, For the wild sea, we'd sailed upon it Too close to the wind. 
The clouds they rise over Northampton market, And the crowds pour into the town, And the people will throng in the streets until sunset, 'Til the hangman cuts us down. And fifty children of Culworth Their fathers are taken away, For the wild sea they sailed upon it Too close to the wind. 
*pronounced Dane-tree 
Recorded by Clyde Davenport, Clydescope. RG