Ethelfleda, Lady of the Mercians, was the daughter of King Alfred of Wessex, and, by all accounts a “chip off the old block”. She was therefore the sister of King Edward the Elder, who succeeded his father in 899AD. She married Ethelred, Earldoman of Mercia. Mercia had been reduced to a fraction of its former size since the great days of King Offa because of invasions by the Danes. In 878 the Treaty of Wedmore had divided England into the English sphere and the “Danelaw”, roughly the area beyond Watling Street (the A5). Ethelfleda became a skilled warrior who, with her husband, managed to conquer back much of the lost Mercian territory and beyond. She carried on the fight after the death of her husband and managed to win back control of the “Five Boroughs” – Leicester, Derby, Nottingham, Lincoln and Stamford – controlled by the Danes for 40 years. She built a series of fortified “burghs” to consolidate her gains and, just before she died, managed to win back the Danish capital of York (Yorvik). Ethelfleda is thought to be buried in Gloucester.
lyrics
1. Ethelfleda, what a little bleeder,
Always running off you couldn’t just leave her
She was a wild one , she was like her father
She was always fighting, what a little tartar,..
Dear Old Alfred and old that Ethelfleda
Twas im that made the ot cakes
Er what made the burger
Stop them Vikings coming any further
Sent them packing right back up the Umber
2. They made her like a Queen that was to er liking
Fighting with the burgers beat the shit out of the Vikings
Stamford, Lincoln, Leicester, Notts and Derby
With a load of beefy burgers she beat the Viking army
Dear Old Alfred and old that Ethelfleda
Twas im that made the ot cakes
Er what made the burger
Stop them Vikings coming any further
Sent them packing right back up the Umber
3. Things aven’t changed that much to me that’s very clear,
Though she sent those Vikings packing with a flea stuck in their ear,
Things come back to bite you, that’s always the fear,
The buggers have are back here again with Abba and Ikea
Dear Old Alfred and that Ethelfleda
Twas im that made the ot cakes
Er what made the burger
Stop them Vikings coming any further
Sent them packing right back up the Umber
So now we have to put up with all those wonky shelves
And bits of bleedin furniture you have to build yourselves,
Money, money, money, mama mia, voulez vou,
Ethel would turn in her grave if she only knew.
Dear Old Alfred and that Ethelfleda
Twas im that made the ot cakes
Er what made the burger
Stop them Vikings coming any further
Sent them packing right back up the Umber
I write both serious and comedy songs. 6 solo CDs to date and collaborations with Steve Cartwright -"Legends of
Leicester/Leicestershire". "All at Sea" shantyish album. Folk based for the most part - when people ask where the ideas come from I can say with honesty -"not drugs!!".. Currently working on a new album "Aspects of Lurve" hopefully out later in 2024....more
