Song Lyrics Explanation: "Upper Canada Rebellion"

Song by Shawna Audet and The Overlanders

Verse 1, Line 1 - The leader of the Upper Canada Rebellion was William Lyon Mackenzie. (He was the grandfather of Prime Minister King.) His nickname was "Little Mac." He got this name because he was just feet tall.

Line 2 - The family compact was an elite group of rich people in Upper Canada. They had a great deal of influence in the government.

Line 3 - Mackenzie owned his own newspaper. It was called the "Colonial Advocate." He used the newspaper to tell people about unfair government practices.

Verse 2, Line 6 - The government held land in reserve for the church (clergy reserves) and government (crown reserves). This situation upset the farmers because the government would not sell the land, even if they weren't using it. This practice sometimes prevented farmers from expanding their farms. It also kept them far from living near their neighbours.

Line 7 - The "rich fat snobs" is a reference to the family compact.

Line 8 - Mackenzie saw that the family compact was taking advantage of the system. Mackenzie was robbed figuratively and literally. Sons of the family compact broke into his newspaper office and stole his printing press. They threw the press into the harbour.

Verse 3, Line 13 - Mackenzie told the rebels to meet at Montgomery's' Tavern. After they all got to the bar, they planned on marching down Yonge Street into Toronto. The plan was to take over the armoury and arrest Governor Bond Head.

Line 15 - The plan did not go off as Mackenzie had hoped. At the last moment, the day of the rebellion was changed to an earlier date. Many rebels did not hear of the change. A much smaller number of men than anticipated actually made it to the bar.

Verse 4, Line 17 - Mackenzie rode around on a white pony.

Line 19 - Many of the rebels were without proper weapons. Mackenzie set the men into lines for the battle. He put the men with the guns in the front. The men who had pitchforks or knives attached to sticks were put in the middle. The men who had little or no weapons were put in the back.

Verse 5 The actual battle was short and chaotic. The rag tag band of Upper Canadian rebels met a small group of men from Toronto at the former site of Maple Leaf Gardens. Sheriff Jarvis' men fired one round at the rebels. The rebels fired back and then dropped to the ground to reload. The confused rebels in the rear lines saw the front lines rebels hit the ground and thought that they were dead. They got afraid and ran away. Mackezie tried to explain that the front lines were fine, but the fleeing rebels would not listen.

Verse 6, Line 27 - Sheriff Jarvis' men ran away too. Eventually, Sheriff Jarvis was the only one left on the field. He decided that this meant that he had won the battle.

Line 29 - As Mackenzie chased his fleeing rebels, he dropped his briefcase. The case contained the names of all of the rebels. This made it easy for the government to catch the rebels. Most rebels simply had to swear that they would be loyal citizens.

Line 30 - Governor Bond Head refused to take Mackenzie seriously. He never thought that the rebels would actually get to the marching stage.

Verse 7- After the rebellion, Mackenzie ran away to the U.S.A. Two rebels were hung. Their names were Peter Matthews and Samuel Lount.