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The Bisley Boy

from River Of Dreams by Johnny Coppin

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about

Exploring the legend that the young princess, who would have become
Elizabeth I, tragically died when she was staying at Over Court in Bisley, Glos. She was then replaced by a local boy as there were no girls who looked like her.

lyrics

Let me tell to you of a tale out in the West
How a young Bisley boy was exchanged for a princess.
Elizabeth was her name, how suddenly she died;
The little daughter of the King, the truth they had to hide

She died at Over Court this they dared not confess
So they sought a second child to wear her golden dress
With no girl the right age, and King Henry on his way,
They chose a red-haired lad, a Bisley boy saved the day

So that fateful day a cunning plan they did employ
Good Queen Bess of England could have been a Bisley Boy

He fooled the ailing King within the dim-lit hall
He learned to be a Princess, then answered England's call.
Forty years a Queen, so powerfully she reigned.
With "the heart of a King", the secret still remained.

So that fateful day a cunning plan they did employ
So Good Queen Bess of England could have been a Bisley Boy
So that fateful day a cunning plan they did employ
So Good Queen Bess of England could have been a Bisley Boy

Now you may wonder could this tale be true?
And throughout her long reign surely someone knew
But she was the Virgin Queen and Gloriana never wed
Did she take this secret with her right to her dying bed?

So that fateful day a cunning plan they did employ
So Good Queen Bess of England could have been a Bisley Boy
So that fateful day a cunning plan they did employ
So Good Queen Bess of England could have been a Bisley Boy

She decreed that no post-mortem could they hold
All through the years the truth could not be told
But at Over Court a tomb was found concealed
And a Tudor girl in a rich dress was revealed
So Good Queen Bess of England could have been a Bisley Boy.

credits

from River Of Dreams, released February 16, 2022
written by Johnny Coppin – PRS/MCPS.
Johnny Coppin - lead vocal and acoustic guitar
Paul Burgess - fiddle
Dik Cadbury - harmony vocal
Mick Candler - drums
Gareth Sampson - bass guitar

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about

Johnny Coppin Stroud, UK

"The quality of his singing and outstanding songwriting surely merit even greater recognition" - RnR magazine

“Unquestionably at the top of his game” - Acoustic magazine

A singer/songwriter and co-founder of the folk band Decameron, Johnny has gone on to record over twelve albums including The Winding Stair, and Borderland. Playing guitar and piano, his music is always melodic and evocative.
... more

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