[Intro I] [Instrumental: slow handbells, harmonium drone, muted strings] Attend ye now, and hearken well, A winter tale the Thames can tell. [Intro II (Instrumental)] [Instrumental only: sleigh bells enter softly, fiddle traces a simple folk melody] [Verse 1] When bitter cold the river bound, And ice lay thick on London’s ground, The tideway stilled from bank to shore, Where ships had passed in days before. From Old London Bridge upstream, The frozen flood lay wide and gleam, A solid way, both broad and plain, Where once had run the merchant’s lane. [Instrumental A] [Instrumental: fiddle and flute dance lightly; bells shimmer in counter-rhythm] [Chorus] So gather fast upon the ice, Where winter forged a path so strong, A river turned to street and slice, Of market, fire, and passing throng. Where water bore no sail nor oar, Yet carried feet by thousands more, O frozen Thames, so vast, so fair, A city met upon thy air. [Instrumental B] [Instrumental: full sleigh bells, pizzicato strings, light percussion like boot-steps on ice] [Verse 2] In sixteen-eight the fairs began, With tents and stalls in ordered span, Roast meat smoked on open flame, And ale was poured without a name. Printers set their presses down, To sell broadsheets throughout the town, Proclaiming all who came to stand, “I printed this on Thames’s land.” [Instrumental C] [Instrumental: harmonium and low strings; bells pause, woodwinds breathe] [Chorus] So gather fast upon the ice, Where winter forged a path so strong, A river turned to street and slice, Of market, fire, and passing throng. With booths and games and songs aloud, The frozen flood amazed the crowd, O frozen Thames, so wide and fair, A fairground spread upon thy air. [Instrumental D (Dance Section)] [Instrumental: lively fiddle reel, sleigh bells bright and fast, stomping rhythm] [Bridge] [Instrumental drops to a hush; strings sustained beneath the voice] In winters long of lesser sun, When Little Ice Age days had come, The cold held fast for weeks on end, And frost no thaw would quickly bend. There football played and skittles rolled, Bull-bait drew the young and bold, And coaches crossed where boats once lay, In wonder at the frozen way. [Instrumental E] [Instrumental: solemn bell peals, slow strings, distant flute] [Verse 3] In Seventeen-Eighty-Three so grim, The Great Frost laid the river dim, For near two months the ice held sure, Thick enough for beasts to tour. An elephant was led across, To prove the ice would bear the cost, While crowds looked on in awe and cheer, At winter’s rule so sharp and clear. [Instrumental F (Grand Build)] [Instrumental: full ensemble — bells, sleigh bells, strings, woodwinds, harmonium] [Final Chorus] So gather fast upon the ice, Though such a sight is seen no more, The river’s freeze at winter’s price Belongs to ages gone before. For widened banks and bridges new, And embankments strong the waters drew, No frost fair now the tide will bear, Yet still the tale outlives the fair. [Outro I (Instrumental)] [Instrumental: bells slow and spacious, strings soften] [Outro II (Instrumental Fade)] [Instrumental: single sleigh bell pulses, fading into quiet harmonium] The Thames runs free, the years have flown, Yet ice and fire are not unknown.
