Some of the best poems and songs are about some minor historical character. Stan Rogers' "MacDonnell on the Heights" is an excellent example. It is about a British Colonel who
fell in a battle between British Canada and the United States. Many of these songs seem to come out of Canada where they have to hold onto their history and culture to fight the onslaught from the United States.
Les Barker wrote a poem that was set to music about the Empress Josephine for June Tabor to sing. |