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A Single Step
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A Ballad about the first ascent of the matterhorn
folktraditionalguitaracou
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folk,traditional,english,scottish celtic music
I'm a soloist as far as the music on here is concerned - although I do play with other people - mostly in duos at the moment,with Maggie Boyle,and Brian Peters
Song Info
Genre
Acoustic • Acoustic Folk
Charts
#136 today
#45 in subgenre Peak #20
Author
G.Tyrrall
Rights
g.tyrrall
Uploaded
February 14, 2006
Track Files
MP3
MP3 7.7 MB • 128 kbps • 8:26
Story behind the song
This was written in the spirit of the old broadside ballads to tell again the true story of Edward Whymper's attempt on the matterhorn
Lyrics
A lady wakes from dreams on a hot summers night A single step may lead to a fall Her son cries out her name in some desperate plight Where the mountains call My name is Edward Whymper,out from England I came To conquer the matterhorn and make my name I made my way to zermatt in 1865 Took Michel Croz and old Peter for my guides Reverend Hudson brought along two friends of 18 years old Lord Francis Douglas and Douglas Hadow Up the north-east ridge we struggled all the day Through rock and snow and ice,above that fearsome face Like the gods of Mt Olympus we stood for an hour On that snowy summit where none had been before Roped together slowly we began to come down A cry,a foot slips,young Douglas Hadow Michel is pulled off with him and he begins to slide Dragging Charles and Lord Francis on their last fatal ride We three brace on the rope,can we hold them at all It snaps,and helplessly we watch them start to fall We stood there unable to move for half an hour Paralysed with fear,with shock and horror As we descended we looked on high A huge ghostly arch appeared in the sky Like a vision from another world come into our field Two vast crosses to us were revealed In Zermatt we told them of this tragic affair Some spoke of seeing four large eagles flying there The grief of Lady Queensberry she never could lay down For the losing of Lord Francis who was never to be found She continued to believe against all kind advice Her son was still alive up there among the snow and ice
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