Текст песни A Leader On Losing Control

I tried my best to stop them, yes, I tried to make them wait And I appealed to their decency show mercy on this day I issued them strong orders on pain of death and disarray But in the end they would not listen and raised their lances anyway Men of no account they were, their breeding crude and low With not a trace of wisdom, Grace or virtue in their souls Yet trained them long and hard I did to bend them to the crown To act as tools of justice, follow edict handed down You see these were not militia men, a-fighting for their homes Nor fathers, sons nor husbands, sire, but foreigners on loan Mercenary killers, career soldiers to a man Lashing out with vengeance one cannot accept or understand I could not instill the discipline 'twas duty to inspire And they responded in the end to instincts of the basest kind Now on my knee before you here, I drop my eyes in shame Albeit little consolation take my head for I'm to blame O, so spoke the leader on losing control