WE ARE PROUD. Words and music, Gary Cunliffe and Ian Gray, 1991. We belong to a town With a thousand years of history, With traditions and a story Which have made its people proud. We belong to a town Where the road could ford the river, Where monks were given lands And where priests could build their town. And the place began to grow Through its markets and its trade And a charter from the king came by decree. And the merchants had their court Where their rules and laws were made And the Guild began and made the borough free. CHORUS: We are proud Of the history that surrounds us Of the great events and names that make the story of our town. We are proud To be children born of Preston, Let us sing it clear and loud For we are proud. People knew troubled times Lived through strife and plague and famine, Trembled under Cromwell’s sword As he closed the Civil War. Scottish armies marching south Marching for The Old Pretender, Were defeated in our streets A final fight on English soil. And when cotton came to town Life could never be the same With the mills and smoke that revolution brings. But we went from strength to strength Helped by Arkwright and his frame And by Horrocks who made Preston’s cotton King! CHORUS: We are proud............. We belong to a town Where a thousand years of history Are only the beginning of Much greater things to come. We belong to a town Which is proudly now a city, The future waits for all In this place we call our home. This shouldn’t be a thing we say Once in every twenty years When in our hearts We feel it every day. CHORUS: We are proud.............