Back in Line

The band claims "Isabel" is about Isabella MacDuff, Countess of Buchan, whom they allege was a paramour of Robert the Bruce.[2] She did crown him King of Scotland in 1306. After he was defeated at the Battle of Methven in June 1306, she was captured by the English and imprisoned in an outdoor cage at Berwick-upon-Tweed for four years. The song is a fictionalized first person perspective of her time on public display.

"Lady Diamond" is a version of a Child ballad 269, a version of which also appeared on The Tannahill Weavers' album Passage (1984). Nigel Pegrum and Rick Kemp helped produce several of the Tannahill's albums.

This selection enables Peter Knight to show off his classical training by performing both violin parts. A canon is essentially a melody played by two or more instruments in a follow-the-leader or looping technique.

"Blackleg Miner" is a Northumbrian song from the 1844 miners' strike, which the band first recorded for Hark! The Village Wait (1970). This version is re-orchestrated with a much funkier feel than their first recording, and also puts greater stress on the line that threatens death against blacklegs. Their 1970 version had become an anthem for the striking miners during the strike of 1984-5, but it has also been controversial for inciting violence against strikebreakers.[3] It was recorded directly to audio cassette at the Theatre Royal, Nottingham, in November 1985, with the strike having ended in March of that year.[2]

Lanercost refers to a north Cumbrian village and priory of the same name from which King Edward I attempted to subdue the Scotts. Each of the four verses begins by describing the actions of the canons (priests) at the priory - fishing; praying; working in the scriptorium and finally carrying the King's coffin. The rest of each verse then discusses Edward and his actions - lying in bed "cursing fate" (as he is too ill to fight); delighting at his capture and execution of the Bruce's brothers; leaving to ride north and then dying before his work can be finished. The chorus is centered around a repetition of the Kyrie eleison, presumably suggesting that this would have been sung by the canons themselves.

The band asserts, "Before Robert the Bruce died, he asked his close friend and comrade Sir James Douglas to take his heart to be buried next to the Sepulchre in the Holy Land."[2]