The coldest winter in memory was 1709 The sea froze off the coast of France All along the Neptune line By the lost town of Dunwich The shore was washed away They say you hear the church bells still As they toll beneath the waves
Come all you earthly princes Wheresoever you may be From the Sun King in the court of France To the Czar in Muscovy Take heed of Charles of Sweden The Lion of the north On the cracked earth of summer With his army he goes forth
I was there amongst that number I heard the trumpets strain I saw the host of banners Spread across the Polish plain Those tht served against us They soon were swept away They may have the numbers But Charles shall have the day
Guardian angels, wherever you may be Reach down and keep my soul for me
We cut our way through forests We crossed on frozen streams They fell away before us Like a murmur in a dream They burned the land around us While snow was closing in The hands of winter took us As we fired against the wind
Through all the courts of Europe There's a rumor from the east The kings have come to battle And it's Charles who's known defeat They'll shake their heads and wonder At how this came to be But it's nights without a shelter T Hat have made an end of me
Guardian angels wherever you may be Reach down and keep my soul for me
[Guitar bridge]
Now Charles is fled to Turkey He's left his men afar And we'll be marched through Moscow now As prisoners of the Czar And had I but known last summer What I know understand I'd have never set my foot inside This bleak and bitter land
Guardian angels wherever you may be Reach down and keep my soul for me
The coldest winter in memory was 1709 The sea froze off the coast of France Along the Neptune line By the lost town of Dunwich The shore was washed away They say you hear the church bells still As they toll beneath the waves