Pennsic (There Is Mud) (Patreon)

Every year in Pennsylvania, there is a SCA (Society for Creative Anachronism) event known as the Pennsic War ( http://www.pennsicwar.org/penn46/ ). It is extremely popular, and many tales are told about it. However, nearly all of those tales have a single unifying theme. Written a few years ago, this song is in "honor" of that one overarching aspect.

 Music: "The Wedding Song (There Is Love)" by Noel "Paul" Stookey

They are now to be among youIn the hazy summer heatTo drink and feast and laugh and playAnd each other up to beat,There are lovely lawns to joust upon,But they'll soon be lawns no more,For whenever two or more of youGather at the Pennsic War,There is mud,There is mud.

There are knights in homemade armor,There are ladies in their gowns,There are hordes of furred barbariansWho aren't that used to towns,They all work to look so different,But they'll all soon be in browns,For whenever we hit Pennsic,For two days the field drowns,There! It's mud,There is mud.

And so what's the big excuse you gave to get this weekend off?Is the office air conditioning so dry you've got a cough?Has the workload overstressed you? Are your co-workers just too loud?You will miss them when you're trapped beneath a front of thunderclouds.

For a dozen years you've gone now,You've fought and drunk and wenched,You have lugged a household full of stuffJust to watch it all get drenched,But your friends are here with love and beer,That's what friends are for,And whenever two or more of youGather at the Pennsic War,There is mud...Deal! There's mud.

Image:  Chroniques de Froissart (15e eeuw) in: Staatsbibliotheek Berlijn - Slag op het Beverhoutsveld