Col. Seth Warner's Extra-Continental Regiment

A Collection of songs

Singing was a popular pastime in the 18^th Century -- beyond the function of accompanying work, as one of the Regiments' distaff members remarked, in whichever century, "it certainly makes doing the dishes go a lot faster" -- singing accompanied celebrations, casual social gatherings, and served as a form of political protests. During a time where many people were illiterate, songs served to pass on tradition and information. In the military, singing aided in coordinating marching (the military uses songs as marching cadences to this day) and Espirit de Corps.

Many traditional songs may be sung in a call and response style, where those who are unfamiliar with the verses can join in on the chorus. Most of these songs can be started with the chorus to teach the group.

Although reasonable efforts have been made to provide accurate information and lyrics, melodies have a tradition of being pirated and mated with multiple sets of lyrics and many traditional songs have local variations with lyrics added and eliminated over the past 300+ years, so what follows cannot be considered definitively correct. Although most songs listed below are proper to the Regiment's portrayal in terms of subject matter and publication date, the few songs which were written after Regiment's discharge in 1781 were included as they were common songs of the Revolutionary War and are fitting to the spirit of time period we portray.

Clicking on the song title will display the lyrics and brief background information as the compiler could assemble. Clicking on the MIDI link will play the melody. Songs with an asterisk are more bawdy and may not be appropriate for young children.

This is currently under revision. Please be patient.

A-Roving*

[MIDI]¹

Auld Lang Syne