Also commonly referred to as "The Death of Nelson", "On Board a Man o' War", and "The Battle of Trafalgar", this traditional folk song eulogizes the death of Napoleonic era Admiral Horatio Nelson, Lord Nelson. The earliest written record of the song dates to 1891 in Ashton's Real Sailor Songs,[1] but the song likely dates to shortly after Nelson's death in 1805. The song has been performed by countless folk artists since.
Lyrics[]
As performed in the studio video. Numerous versions of the lyrics exist, but they most closely resemble those sung by Peter Bellamy, which can be found here.
On the twenty-first of October, before the rising sun
We formed the line for action, boys, at twelve o'clock begun
Old Nelson to his men did say, "The Lord'll prosper us this day.
Give them the broadside, fire away!"
{Chorus}
On board a man of war
Let him die in peace, God bless you all
On board a man of war
From broadside to broadside the cannon balls did fly
Like hailstones across our deck, the small shots did lie
Our mast was blown away, besides some hundreds on that day
Were killed or wounded in the fray
{Chorus}
But then our great commander, with grief he shook his head
"There's no reprieve, and no relief — old Nelson, he is dead."
It was a fateful musket ball that caused old Nelson for to fall
Let him die in peace, God bless you all!
{Chorus}
Let him die in peace, God bless you all
On board a man of war
Recordings[]
YouTube Videos[]
Full Band Streams[]
- The Longest Johns Impromptu Singing Stream! (17 Nov 2018)
- The Longest Johns Streamtember (4 Sep 2019)
- STREAM (4 Aug 2021)
- Big Announcment Stream (22 Nov 2023)