Gary Miller Songs

Welcome to this city

So steeped in history

Where we’ll follow the trail of bold John Duck

So cloaked in mystery

Step into his buckle shoes

And come along with me

First we’ll raise a glass then raise him up

Out of obscurity

From Fleshergate he was cast out

By the Butchers’ Guild it seems

They sought to put an end

To all his hopes and dreams

But all poor determined dreamers

Will fight hard to defend

Their dreams to go from rags to glory

To the bitter end

Paint yourself a picture

For his likeness and his character

Have slipped through history’s net

John Duck who went from Butcher’s Boy

To Butcher Baronet

Here on Framwelgate Bridge he stood

In a deep despondency

Till a fateful raven woke him

From his dark melancholy

Would you have the drive to do

What John Duck did then?

Would you have the pluck

To chance your luck?

Would you turn and start again?

Throw a coin into the air

And where it lands see if your own luck can reflect

John Duck who went from Butcher’s Boy

To Butcher Baronet

Here on Silver Street there stood

His mansion on the hill

And but for mad town planners

It would be here still

We can now but imagine

The view he must have seen

Would all the works that he achieved

Be part of that rich scene?

Step into the Town Hall

For he became the mayor

The Butchers’ Guild must all have been

Tearing out their hair

But when he arose as Sir John Duck

It must have hurt them deeper still

To see him made a Baronet

At Haswell-on-the-Hill

Take a leaf from his book

Seize your luck and run with it

And be just like him yet

John Duck who went from Butcher’s Boy

To Butcher Baronet

We’ll repair at last

To a pub named the John Duck

And we’ll raise a glass or two

And another one for luck

And then we’ll raise another

Lest we all forget

The man to whom this song is set

The Butcher Baronet

Paint yourself a picture

For his likeness and his character

Have slipped through history’s net

John Duck who went from Butcher’s Boy

To Butcher Baronet

This man who went from Butcher’s Boy

To Butcher Baronet

(Gary Miller)

© 2018 Whippet Records

Copyright Control MCPS/PRS

Helen Temperley's first illustration from the project 'The Butcher Baronet'.

This song was commissioned and specially-written for the upcoming project 'The Butcher Baronet', in collaboration with Lone Pine Pictures, about the 17th Century Durham City historical figure John Duck.

Other songs and tunes from this project include : -

'The Beer Token'

'Ca' Hawkie'

'Cast Out'

'Cloak and Hood'

'Elementary'

'Flesh and Bone'

'Fortune Weaver'

'Go Away!'

'Golden Journey: Through Air / Over Water / To Earth / On Fire'

'Here's to You, John Duck!'

'Hold on'

'John's Jacobus (Inscription)'

'My Butcher Boy'

'Now I Dream'

'Old Duck's Main'

'Old Duck's Rant'

'Shiny Thing'

'Top of the Hill'