Songs of the Otherworld
Traditional and
Original Folk Songs,
Ballads, and Instrumentals Celebrating the Faerie Realm and Otherworld
Beings.
Contact
Cyntia Smith for
Aeolus Music publishing by sending email to info [at] aeolusmusic [dot]
com.
Lyrics
MIDSUMMER MADNESS / RISE MOON
Words and Music by Ruth Barrett,
originally from the recording, Parthenogenesis, Tidal Time, BMI
In the twilight
time when the colors
turn
Hidden eyes within the leaves peer out
unobserved
Will you walk the path that you can
see?
Or slip away between the trees?
Rustling forest
sounds, like voices
from the deep
Turning round you look again in
disbelief
Silent figures move in misty form
Your head is light, your blood is warm
Voices call you
close, and your body’s
yearning
Eyes of wonder as a child gaze as they
turn
If invited in, will you join the dance?
Or step away within your trance?
Is this all a
dream? Or midsummer
madness?
Apparitions of the mind? Or Nature’s
own?
Questions of the night ask if it’s so
The dawn brings what we’ll never
know.
And when I
quiet myself and my history
I can hear the music wisdom in
everything
Rise moon, with
streaming hair,
Touch this weary human care,
Lighten us to mystery,
To darkness, to change, eternally
Forest pulse
and pull me into the
living world
Creatures are of Her unquestioning,
simply being
Enveloped by
the tree,
I take you to me willingly,
Whispers flicker endlessly,
In voices of an ancient sea
Rise Moon …
In the twilight
time when the colors
turn
Hidden eyes within the leaves peer out
unobserved
Will you walk the path that you can
see?
Or slip away between the trees?
Ruth Barrett-
voice, fretted dulcimer
Scott Fraser – synthesizer
Cyntia Smith – fretted dulcimer
Caroline Waters – voice, synthesizer
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FAERIE’S LOVE
SONG
Trad, with
additional verses by Ruth
Barrett and Cyntia Smith, from the recording The Early Years, Aeolus
Music,
BMI/Tidal Time, BMI. This is a courtship song between a
being of the faerie realm and her mortal lover. Such tryst’s are
reported to occur with
more frequency than people like to admit!
Chorus:
Why should I sit and sigh?
Pullin’ brackin, pullin’ bracken
Why should I sit and sigh,
On a hillside weary?
When I see the
plover risin’
Or the curlew wheelin
It’s then I’ll court my mortal
lover,
Back to me is stealin’
When the moon
begins her waning
I sit by the water
Where the one in silver starlight
Loved the faerie’s daughter.
Ah but there is
something wanting
Ah but I am weary,
Come me blithe and bonny traidee
Come o’er the knolls to cheer me
Who is that I
see before me?
Through the willow peering,
A smile as sweet as hawthorn blooming
My love is come to cheer me.
Ruth Barrett –
voice
Cyntia Smith – fretted dulcimer
Sylvia Woods – Celtic harp
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SONG OF THE
WANDERING AENGUS
Words by W.B.
Yeats (1865-1939), Music
by Ruth Barrett, from the recording Deepening, Tidal Time, BMI.
Yeat’s wrote this transcendent poem
at age 32, inspired by faerie lore and belief of his native Ireland. My
daughter, Amanda
Barrett, sings the “young” Aengus, and I sing the “older” Aengus after
years of
wandering after the mysterious “glimmering girl”.
I went out to
the hazel wood
because a fire was in my head
and cut and peeled a hazel wand
and hooked a berry to a thread.
And when white
moths were on the wing
and moth-like stars were flickering out
I dropped the berry in the stream
and caught a little silver trout.
When I had laid
it on the floor
I went to blow the fire aflame
But something rustled on the floor
and someone called me by my name.
It had become a
glimmering girl
with apple blossom in her hair
who called me by my name and ran
and vanished through the brightening
air
Though I am old
with wandering
through hollow lands and hills lands
I will find out where she has gone
and kiss her lips and take her hands.
And walk among
long dappled grass
and pluck till time and times are done
the silver apples of the moon
the golden apples of the sun.
Amanda Barrett – “young” voice
Ruth Barrett – dulcimer and “older”
voice
Cyntia Smith – dulcimer
Miamon Miller – violins
Edward Willett – cello
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SHEEBEG AND
SHEEMOOR
Turlough
O’Carolan (1670 – 1738),
Tidal Time, BMI
This harp tune is said to be the first
that the blind Irish harper O’Carolan composed. Sheebeg and Sheemoor
are two fairy
hills reputed as being inhabited by the “good people.”
Ruth Barrett –
fretted dulcimer
Amanda Barrett - mandolin
Abby DeWald – guitar
Joel Bienenfeld – flute
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BIRDS OF
RHIANNON
words and music
by Ruth Barrett, Tidal
Time, BMI
Rhiannon is a Welsh underworld Goddess,
and faerie queen who often travels between the realms of the human
world
and the Otherworld on a pale white mare. Her name means “Great Queen”,
and she
is a bringer of sleep, comfort, dreams, change, nightmares, and
forgetfulness. The
magical birds that accompany Her can sing the dead awake and the living
to sleep. Her
story is told in the Welsh saga, the Mabinogion, translated by Lady
Charlotte Guest. I
wrote this ballad at a challenging time in my life where I thought
about succumbing to the
temptations of the Otherworld. I chose to live in the mid-realm and
only visit the
Otherworld on occasion.
At the turning
of the year, when light
rose in the skies,
I lay there in my bed, unable to rise.
And there so laden with grief, my heart
so heavy with pain,
I felt the weight of the world on my
weary frame.
I wondered
should I rise and meet
another day,
Or let my spirit fly to the next world
away.
When wondrous music filled my ears, and
a Lady stood by me,
While her three rare songbirds fair
sang a strange melody.
My troubles
melted like the snow and
their song erased my pain
I felt myself release my earthly claim.
She asked me would I desire to leave
this mortal place
For the Shining Land below and faerie
grace.
I’ll gladly say
farewell to the place
where I was born
to hear the calling strains of the
faerie horn.
Below me, the pulling of the earth as
She took me by the hand
The rushing of the wind brought us to
that land.
I opened my
eyes in the glow, to colors
bright as gold,
The sights I witnessed there cannot be
told.
When unseen pipes began to sound, I was
swept up in their dance,
But grasping faerie hands made me hold
my stance.
I shivered with
cold in that light that
never changed nor set
And longed for warmth of heart that was
never met.
Then to the Lady of the Birds, I begged
on bended knee
To take me from this place, and this
reverie
I long for my
ever-changing world where
I will find love and tears,
And feel the journey of the sun
throughout my years
As these words left my lips I awoke
back in my bed
And by the singing of birds, to the
window was led
I searched up
high in a tree for the
birds that had charmed me,
And smiled with delight and relief at
what I there did see
For two busy robins in great haste were
building their nest in the tree
I watched with tears of joy at their
simplicity
And heard my
own voice from within,
whisper words I’d never known
For all the treasures beyond, this is
my home.
Ruth Barrett –
voice and dulcimer
Abby DeWald – guitar
Joel Bienenfeld – flute
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NAIAD
by Ruth Barrett
and Scott Fraser,
originally from the recording Parthenogenesis, Tidal Time, BMI.
Naiads are
nymphs who preside over
fresh water streams, wells, springs, ponds, while other types of Naiads
presided over
oceans and seas. Stories tell of their the magical and healing
properties of their waters.
Naiads were worshiped by the Greeks in association with divinities of
fertility and
growth, and some cities and towns were named after them.
Ruth Barrett –
voice
Scott Fraser – synthesizer
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THE MERMAID
Words by Ruth
Barrett and Cyntia Smith,
Trad. melody. Originally from the recording The Early Years, Aeolus
Music, BMI/Tidal Time, BMI.
Sometimes
called sea sirens, water
spirits, or water fairies, these creatures are described as having the
upper body of a beautiful
maiden and the lower body of a fish. Their lore goes back thousands of
years, and found
in many parts of the world. Most often they are associated with
enticing singing,
the granting of wishes, and the ability to fortell the future. They are
often considered
unlucky as portents of death on the sea. In this original song, we made
the mermaid the she-ro of
the story.
As I sailed
from Galway in service to
the Queen
My ship she grew lost, no land was seen
I stood at the rail to take the air
And my eyes did see in the water a
mermaid swimming there
Her face shown
of moonlight, her comb
was in her hair
She was garlanded with pearls and
shells so rare
She lifted her glass, my self to see
Yet the image there in her looking
glass was my destiny
The vision I
saw when I looked into the
glass
Foretold that our doom would come to
pass
My ship would go down into the sea
The mermaid said, “I can save you
all, just believe in me.”
The clouds
rolled with thunder our ship
would soon be lost
I begged for our lives at any cost
She smiled as she sang my crew to sleep
With her charming voice I did fall into
a slumber deep
The next thing
I heard as I woke from
her spell
Was the distant faint ringing of a bell
My crew they were shouting at sight of
shore
And the mermaid’s song shall be in my
heart forever more.
Ruth Barrett –
voice and fretted
dulcimer
Cyntia Smith – fretted dulcimer
Daniel Bienenfeld – concertina
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THE FAIRY BOY
Adapted from a
poem by Samuel Lover
(1797– 1868), Tidal Time, BMI.
Changeling poetry became popular in the
Victorian era. Faerie abductions were sometimes blamed for missing,
sick, or
sudden death of a child. It was believed that faerie’s stole a healthy
child and
left a sick one (a changeling) it its place. I learned this song many
years ago from the singing of
Toni Arthur. The melody for the poem is from a traditional pipe tune.
A mother came
while the stars were
paling
Calling to the fairy king
Thus she cried and the tears were
falling
Wailing round a lonely spring
Why with spells my child you’re
caressing
Courting him with fairy joy
Why destroy a mother’s blessing
Wherefore steal my baby boy?
O’er the
mountain, through the
wildwood
Tears a falling all in vain
Where the flowers are freshly springing
There I wander day by day
Fare thee well, my child forever
In this world I have lost my joy
On the echoes wildly calling
To restore my fairy boy
Ruth Barrett –
voice
Joel Bienenfeld – flute
Scott Fraser – drone
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KING OF THE
FAERIES
Trad. Irish
tune arr. by Ruth Barrett
and Cyntia Smith, originally from the recording, The Early Years,
Aeolus
Music, BMI/Tidal Time, BMI.
Cyntia Smith -
dulcimer
Ruth Barrett – dulcimer
Scott Fraser – organ drone
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TAM LIN (Child
Ballad #39), Tidal Time,
BMI.
The courage of the heroine to free her
lover from the faerie realm continues to fascinate me since I first
heard a version of the
ballad sung in the early 1970’s. This story begs study for it’s
variations, faerie
lore, and window into the Otherworld. I learned this version from the
singing of Frankie
Armstrong, with minor adaptations from another version.
Lady Margaret,
Lady Margaret, a sewin’
at her seam
And she’s all dressed in black
When a thought come to her head she’d
run into the woods
Pick flowers to flower her hat, her hat
Pick flowers to flower her hat.
So she’s
hoisted up her petticoat a
bit above her knee
And so nimbly she’s run on the plain
And when she’s come to the merry
green wood
She’s pulled them branches down, down
She’s pulled them branches down.
And suddenly
she’s spied a fine young
man
Stood underneath the tree
Saying, how dare you pull them branches
down
Without the leave of me, Lady
Without the leave of me.
She said this
wood, it is me very own
Me father give it me
And I can pull these branches down
Without the leave of thee, young man
Without the leave of thee.
He’s taken her
by the lily white hand
Among the leaves so green
And what they did I cannot say
The leaves they were between, between
The leaves they were between.
And when t’was
done she has turned
herself about
To ask her true love’s name
But she nothing heard, and nothing saw
And all the woods grew dim, dim
And all the woods grew dim.
There’s four
and twenty ladies all in
the court
Grow red as any rose
Excepting the young Margaret
And green as glass she goes, goes
And green as glass she goes.
And out and
spoke the first serving
girl
She lifted her head and smiled
I think me Lady’s loved too long
And now she goes with child, with child
And now she goes with child.
And out and
spoke the second serving
girl
Oh ever and alas, said she
I think I know a herb in the merry,
green wood
That will twine the babe from thee,
Lady
That will twine the babe from thee.
Young Margaret
is taken up her silver
comb
Made haste to comb her hair
And she’s away to the merry green
wood
As fast as she can tear, tear
As fast as she can tear.
And she hadn’t
pulled a herb in that
merry green wood
A herb that barely won
When by her stood young Tam Lin
Saying, Margaret leave it alone, me
love
Saying, Margaret leave it alone.
How can you
pull that bitter little
herb
That herb that grows so gray
To take away that sweet babe’s life
That we got in our play, me love
That we got in our play.
Oh tell me the
truth, young Tam Lin,
she said
If an early man you be
I’ll tell you no lies, Lady Margaret,
he said
I was christened the same as thee, me
dear
I was christened the same as thee.
But as I rode
out one cold and bitter
day
From off me horse I fell
And the Queen of Elfland she took me
In yonder green hills to dwell, me dear
In yonder green hills to dwell.
But this night
it is the Halloween
When the Elven court do ride
And if you would your true love win
By the old mill bridge you must bide,
Lady
By the old mill bridge you must bide.
And first will
come the black horse,
and then will come the brown
And then race by the white
But you’ll hold it fast and fear it
not
It’s the father of your child, you’ll
know
It’s the father of your child.
And then they
will turn me in your arms
Into may a beast so wild
But you’ll hold it fast and fear it
not
It’s the father of your child, you’ll
know.
It’s the father of your child.
Young
Margaret’s taken up her silver
comb
Made haste to comb her hair
And she’s away to the old mill bridge
As fast as she can tear, tear
As fast as she can tear.
And in the
middle of the night
She heard the harness ring
And oh, how so it chilled her heart
More than any mortal thing, it did
More than any mortal thing.
And first it
come the black horse, and
then it come the brown,
And then race by the white
But she held it fast and feared it not
It was the father of her child, she
knew
It was the father of her child.
The thunder
rolled across the sky
And the stars they blazed like day
And the Queen of Elfland gave a
thrilling cry,
Young Tam Lin’s away, away
Young Tam Lin’s away!
And then they
have changed him all in
her arms
To a lion that roared so wild
But she held him fast and feared him
not
It was the father of her child, she
knew
It was the father of her child.
And then they
have changed him all in
her arms
Into a loathsome snake
But she held him fast and feared it not
It was one of god’s own make, she
knew
It was one of god’s own make.
And then they
have changed him all in
her arms
To a red-hot bar of iron
But she held it fast and feared it not
And it did to her no harm, no harm
And it did to her no harm.
And the last
they have changed him all
in her arms
Was to a naked man
And she flung her mantle over him
Crying, me love, I’ve won, I’ve won
Crying, my love, I’ve won!
Then out and spoke the Queen of
Elfinland
From the bush wherein’ she stood
I should have tore out your eyes, Tam
Lin
And put in two eyes of wood, of wood.
And put in two eyes of wood!
Ruth Barrett –
Voice
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APPLES OF AVALON
words by Ruth
Barrett, Trad. Melody),
originally from the recording The Heart is the Only Nation, Tidal Time,
BMI.
Morgan Le Fey is best known as the
wicked half sister of King Arthur, and was first introduced into
Arthurian legend by
Geoffry of Monmounth in the Vita Merline (c. 1150). Her true origin
leads back to
Celtic mythology where is known as a faerie (Le Fey is an ancient word
for a fairy), sea
goddess, shape-shifter, healer, and possibly to the Irish goddess
Morrigan. In this song, Morgan
Le Fey is the compassionate one who after death welcomes you to the
Isle of Avalon.
From the green
still mountains, to the
deep waterside
Through misty grey marshes where
shadows lie,
So deep in Her dreaming, and with one
star awake,
The fay Queen Morgan moves over the
lake.
Her midnight
raven rides the purple
skies,
Calling into the darkness where the
gateway lies,
She weaves enchantment on the loom of
time,
And sets destiny reeling by fastened
knots of nine.
The sea foam
rises along Celtic shore
Her hand plucks you from the Wheel when
your days are no more.
Sailing into the west wind where
sunlight beguiles,
She will bid you welcome to the Eternal
Isle.
And look into
those eyes that reflect
your own.
Come to Her without fear and She’ll
lead you home.
She will sooth away your terror with
harp and with song,
And you’ll feast upon apples of
Avalon
And you’ll feast upon apples of
Avalon
Ruth Barrett – lead voice, fretted
dulcimer
Cyntia Smith – fretted dulcimer,
voice
Richard Gee – guitar
Cait Reed – violin
Sylvia Woods – Celtic harp
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12. TREE LESSONS
by Ruth
Barrett, Cyntia Smith, and
Shekhinah Mountainwater, originally from the recording The Heart is the
Only Nation,
Aeolus Music, BMI/Tidal Time, BMI.
Trees are
sentient beings that house
spiritual and practical knowledge. In the Celtic tradition trees
contain magical
properties that human beings can learn if they dare reach for their
wisdom.
There was a
lass and a bonny lass
Did enter a sacred grove
She’s turned her east, she’s turned
her west
To see the trees all grow
The hazel, the
oak, the ash, and the
willow
How lovely you do grow!
If I could learn your seasons well
The greater wisdom I will know
She made a wand
from the hazelnut
branch
To lead her to a flowing stream
She bent and drank of the waters there
And knew true poetry
It’s then she
stood beside the wise
oak
And held an acorn in her hand
She met the mighty guardian of the door
Protector of times past
She came unto
the ash tree of old
That grows between sky and earth
She felt the spin of all the worlds
Like the quickening of birth
At last she
came to the bending willow
tree
That harbors magick and mystery
She danced to the song of the wind in
the leaves
And knew sweet ecstasy
Ruth Barrett
and Cyntia Smith –
vocals, fretted dulcimers
Richard Gee – guitar
Marilyn Donadt – percussion
Ellen Burr – flute
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THE MAY QUEEN
IS WAITING
by Ruth
Barrett, originally from the
recording The Heart is the Only Nation, Tidal Time, BMI.
The Queen of
the May, also known as a
goddess of spring or queen of the faeries, was customarily represented
every year by a
garlanded young woman for the festivities of May. It is said that even
into the 19th
century, couples would make love in the furrowed fields to stimulate
the crops to grow.
In my teenage years I was the May Queen for the Renaissance Pleasure
Faires in southern
California, dancing with Jack of the Green, or the Green Man. I wrote
this song to
honor the May Queen as awakener of life, pleasure, and beauty.
I’ll prepare
the furrowed earth for
your sweet body.
The stars are rising in the moonlit
sky.
The May Queen is waiting.
Her voice reaches as you sleep, can you
awaken
to live the wonders of your dreams?
The May Queen is waiting.
Restless in the
night, the full moon
light,
Carving magic patterns in the land,
She waits for you to return again.
Do not keep Her waiting.
You startle,
wake, and stare, heart is
beating.
The new earth quickens as you rise.
The May Queen is waiting.
Feel the pulsing ground call you to
journey.
To know the depths of your desire.
The May Queen is waiting.
Moving through
the night, the bright
moon’s flight.
In green and silver on the plain,
She waits for you to return again.
Do not keep Her waiting.
Her temper
stings if you refuse to
taste Her honey.
Surrender as enchantment brings
the first light of dawning.
Move with Her in sacred dance, through
fear to feeling,
bringing ecstasy to those who dare.
Living earth is breathing.
Loving through
the night in the bright
moonlight,
as seedlings open with the rain,
She’ll long for you to return again.
Do not keep Her waiting.
Do not keep Her waiting.
Do not keep Her waiting.
Ruth Barrett –
voice, fretted
dulcimer
Cyntia Smith – fretted dulcimer
Ellen Burr – flute
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THOMAS THE
RHYMER
Trad (Child
ballad # 37), Tidal Time,
BMI.
Scottish seer and poet, Thomas Rhymour
of Ercildoune, was born in c. 1220, and considered a to have acquired
prophetic
powers after a dramatic encounter with the Queen of Elfland. His
prophecies were
said to have been consulted into the early 18th Century. The ballad was
originally
published in Sir Walter Scott’s, Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border.
This ballad, and the
ballad of Tam Lin contain the basis for ancient and contemporary faery
tradition. For more
on these I recommend the work of RJ Stewart.
This version from
Ron Taylor and Jeff Gillett was collated from various sources and
Anglicised. I added
a few additional lines from another version of the ballad.
True Thomas sat
on Huntlie Bank, a
ferlie (wonder) spied he with his eye,
And he beheld a
Lady bright, come
riding down by the Eildon Tree.
Her shirt was
of the grass-green silk,
her mantle of the velvet fine,
And every lock
of her horse’s mane
hung fifty silver bells and nine.
True Thomas he
took off his hat, and
fell down low unto the knee
“All hail thou
mighty Queen of
Heaven! Thy like on earth I ne’er did see!”
“Oh no, oh no,
Thomas, she said,
“That name does not belong to me.
I’m but the
Queen of fair Elfland,
and hither come for to visit thee.
Oh harp and
carp, Thomas!” she said,
“Oh harp and carp along with me;
And if ye dare
to kiss my lips, sure of
your body I will be.”
“Betide me
well, betide me woe, that
weird (fate) will never daunten me!”
And he has
kissed her rosy lips all
underneath the Eildon Tree.
She’s turned
about the milk-white
steed, and taken Thomas up behind,
And aye when
‘ere the bridle rang,
the steed flew swifter than the wind.
For forty days
and forty nights they
waded red blood to the knee.
And they saw
neither sun nor moon, but
heard the roaring of the sea.
They waded
through the red, red blood
that reached up high unto the knee.
For all the
blood that’s shed on
earth runs through that country.
And they rode
on and further on, the
steed flew swifter than the wind.
Until they came
to a desert wide, and
living land was left behind.
“Light down,
light down, Thomas,”
she said, “and lay your head upon my knee.
Abide and rest
a little space, and I
will show you wonders three.
And see ye not
yon narrow road, so
thick beset with thorns and briars?
That is the
path to righteousness,
though after it but few enquires.
And see ye not
that broad broad road,
that lies across the lily leven (elm bank)?
That is the
path of wickedness, though
some call it the road to heaven.
And see ye not
the bonny road that
winds across the ferny brae (hillside)?
That is the
road to fair Elfland, where
you and I this night must stay.
But Thomas, you
must hold your tongue,
whatever you may hear or see,
For if you
speak a word in fair
Elfland, you’ll ne’er get back to your own country.”
They came unto
a garden green where
wondrous fruit did grow
True Thomas
pulled a green apple among
the branches low
Oh no, Oh no,
True Thomas, she cried, I
dare not give you leave
That is the
tree that caused the fall
of Adam and of Eve
She’s pulled an
apple from the tree,
all among the branches high
“Take this for
wages, True Thomas,
It’ll give thee a tongue that can never lie.”
“Me tongue’s,
me own,” True
Thomas said; “a goodly gift ye would give to me!
I’d neither
dare to buy or sell, at
fair or tryst where I might be.
And I’d dare
not speak to prince or
peer, nor ask of grace from fair lady.”
“Now hold your
peace,” the Lady
said, “for as I say, so must it be!
But Thomas, you
must hold your tongue,
whatever you may hear or see,
For if you
speak a word in fair
Elfland, you’ll ne’er get back to your own country.”
He’s gotten a
coat of the elven
cloth, and shoes all of the velvet green,
And e’re seven
long years were passed
and gone, True Thomas on earth was never seen.
Ruth Barrett –
voice and fretted
dulcimer
Abby DeWald –
guitar
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FAIRY QUEEN
Words and music
by Kenny Klein, ©Kenny
Klein, BMI
Midnight glance
is silence glazed,
Misty shroud the leaves entwine
Long the fruit on bow has blossomed,
Laden heavy hang the vines
Silence still the west wind carries,
The tangy taste of the distant sea
Dark and deep the nightshade berries,
Twist about the burdened lea
The jingling
bells are hardly noticed
First, so heavy is the night
Creeping slowly ever nearer
Bridled mare of deathly white
Now children in their beds of feather
Moan and dream the passing sound
An owl takes flight, a sprig of heather
Spills its burden to the ground
Fairy Queen
that rides the darkness
with
Softly jingling bridle bells
Shadow of the ancient Mother
That on the wings of autumn dwells
Fairy Queen that claims the harvest
Yours the red fruit of the vine
Mab the song is unforgotten
The misty air the leaves entwine
Ruth Barrett –
voice and dulcimer
Amanda Barrett - mandolin
Joel Bienefeld - flute
Abby DeWald – guitar
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