---

Song Lyrics for Green to Gold
Grimsby Fisher Lads   (J.Bennett)                                 When you live with the weather, every trip has its tale                    The Grimsby boys shudder as the wind hits the sail
The swell of the ocean closes down on the deck
And we hope we are blessed

Bound as apprentice for seven long years
At the smack captain’s pleasure, and no more tears
From tarring the rope to making the tea
We long to be free
 
Land ahoy and home again, home again
No more black sea to roam again, roam again
And all the town shall ring to them, ring to them
For the land is drawing near
 
In boots and hard leather, the voyage has passed
A small penny fortune that never seems to last  
The fishermen hate us, for we undercut their wage
And learn nothing at all
 
Hold fast tool fast  the quick and mourn the dead
The Grimsby boy souls and all who have fled
Their ghosts stand high on the harbour walls
Looking out to the sea

Ot Moor (anon)
They hang the man and flog the woman
Who steals the goose from off the common
Yet let the greater villain loose
Who steals the common from the goose
 
The law demands that we atone
When we take things we do not own
But leaves the lords and ladies fine
Who take things that are yours and mine 

The Turtle Dove (Traditional)
Farewell my joy, my only love
I must leave you for a while
And wherever I go I will return
Though it be ten thousand miles, my dear,
Though it be ten thousand miles.

Ten thousand miles it is too far
To leave me all alone.
Whilst I must lie, lament and cry
And you’ll not hear my moan, my dear,
And you’ll not hear my moan.

Until the seas run dry, my dear
And the rocks melt with the sun
You and I will never part
Until those things are done, my dear,
Until those things are done.
 
The blackest crow that ever flew
Will surely turn to white,
If ever I should prove false to thee
Bright day shall turn to night, my dear,
Bright day shall turn to night.
 
Now yonder sits a turtle dove,
All under a mulberry tree
A-making mourn for his own true love
As I shall mourn for thee, my dear,
As I shall mourn for thee.

The Unquiet Grave (Traditional)
Cold blows the wind to my true love
And gently falls the rain
I only had but one true love
And in greenwood she lies slain
 
I’ll do as much for my true love
As any young man may
I’ll sit and mourn all on her grave
For twelve month and a day
 
When twelve month and one day was passed
The ghost began to speak
‘Why sit you here all on my grave
And will not let me sleep?’
 
‘I crave a kiss from your cold cold lips
Then weep I will no more’
‘Your grief is blind’ the ghost replied
‘And death we must endure’
 
‘Go fetch me water from the desert
And light from the darkest moon
Go dig my grave both long and deep
For comes the darkness soon....for comes the darkness soon’
 
Twas down in Cupid’s garden
Where once young lovers walked
The fairest flower that ever I saw
Has withered to a stalk
 
The stalk is withered and dry sweetheart
But we shall meet I’m sure
When autumn leaves are pressed to earth
And spring is here once more.

Green to Gold  (J.Bennett)
From green to gold and then to fall
The Autumn stories now recall
That all that changes is the same
We turn the seasons round again
 And we’re a little older now
 
We dream the land beneath the plough 
The summer yield is harvest bound
Broken shards beneath our feet
Below the earth are buried deep
And we’re a little older now
 
The yaffle drumming rarely heard
With passing rain, the woodland stirred
To watch the heron stand alone
Upon a single mottled stone
And we’re a little older now

When frost and ice return to water
Spring is winter’s fairest daughter
Take this joy of life in hand
Take this joy of life

Blasket Island (J.Bennett)
There is a bay off Ireland’s shore
Etched by wind and soil
Where once the earth begotten men
Did go to dream and toil.
And there in Blasket Island coves
Seaweed from the foam
Was gathered up in moleskin bags
Before the journey home
Oh, the tender souls
 
Then one grey Autumn day
These men, their labour spent,
Did spy a pair of ocean seals,
And so with clubs they went.
The brother seals were torn apart
The first-born cried for life
They laid him down upon a stone
And raised the hunter’s knife
Oh, the tender souls
 
A hundred years for every cry
Til all are scattered wide
A hundred years for every skin
Stolen on the tide
A hundred years, this barren land
No mortal soul remains
And while the curse hangs over us
We bow our heads in shame
Oh, the tender souls
 
And seldom now a fisherman
To Blasket isle will row
And hear a lonely ocean seal
Above the tidal flow
Is this the brother standing guard,
The keeper of the land?
Or just a breath of the ocean wind
Along forgotten strands?
Oh, the tender souls
​

Song Lyrics for Ebb & Flow

Quiet Joys   ~ [Richard Farina]
Where gentle tides go rolling by
Along the salt-sea strand
The colours blend and roll as one
Together in the sand
And often do the winds entwine
To send their distant call
The quiet joys of brotherhood
When love is lord of all

Where oak and weed together rise
Along the common ground
The mare and stallion light and dark
Have thunder in their sound
The rainbow sign, the blended flood
Still have my heart enthralled
The quiet joys of brotherhood
When love is lord of all

John Barleycorn is a hero bold   ~  [Traditional]
 John Barleycorn's a hero bold as any in the land,
For ages good his fame has stood and will for ages stand.
The whole wide world respect him no matter friend or foe,
And where they be that makes too free he's sure to lay them low.
Hey, John Barleycorn, Ho, John Barleycorn,
Old and young thy praise have sung, John Barleycorn.
To see him in his pride of growth his robes are rich and green,
His head is speared with prickly beard fit nigh to serve the Queen.
And when the reaping time comes round and John is stricken down,
He yields his blood for England's good and Englishmen's renown.

The Lord in courtly castle and the Squire in stately hall,
The great of name in birth and fame on John for succour call.
He bids the troubled heart rejoice, gives warmth to Nature's cold
Makes weak men strong and old ones young and all men brave and bold.

Then shout for great John Barleycorn nor heed the luscious vine,
I have no mind much charm to find in potent draught of wine.
Give me my native nut-brown ale, all other drinks I'll scorn
For true English cheer is English beer, our own John Barleycorn.

Riddles Wisely Expounded  ~ [Traditional]
There was a lady of the North Country
 Lay the bent to the bonny broom
 And she had lovely daughters three
There came a stranger to the gate
He was the devil looking for a mate
 The stranger cast his questions then
And you must answer each of them
The one who fails will go with me
And be my bride for eternity

What is greener than the grass
What is smoother than crystal glass?
Your envy’s greener than grass
 Your tongue is smoother than crystal glass

What is louder than a horn
And what is sharper than a thorn?
Rumour’s louder than a horn
And hunger’s sharper than a thorn
What is brighter than the light
And what is darker than the night?
Truth is brighter than the light
Your heart is darker than the night

What is keener than an axe
And what is softer than melting wax?
Revenge is keener than an axe
Love is softer than melting wax
 
And then the devil she did name
He flew away in a burning flame.

Crow on the Cradle  ~  [Sydney Carter]
The sheep’s in the meadow, the cow’s in the corn
Now is the time for a child to be born
You laugh at the moon and you cry for the sun
And if it’s a boy he can carry a gun
Sang the crow on the cradle
 
 And if it should be that this baby’s a girl
Never you mind if her hair doesn’t curl
Rings on her fingers and bells on her toes
And a bomber above her wherever she goes
Sang the crow on the cradle
 
Crow on the cradle the black and white
Somebody’s baby is born for a fight
Crow on the cradle, the white and the black
Somebody’s baby is not coming back
Sang the crow on the cradle
 
Bring me my gun and I’ll shoot that bird dead
That’s what your mother and father have said
Crow on the cradle, what shall we do?
Now there is a thing that I’ll leave up to you
Sang the crow on the cradle
Sang the crow on the cradle

The Trees They Do Grow High  ~  [Traditional]
The trees they do grow high and the leaves they do grow green,
 And many a cold winter my love and I have seen.
 And through the longest hours I’ve watched him all alone,
 My bonny boy is young but he’s growing.

O father, dear father, you've done to me great wrong,
You've tied me to a boy when you know he is too young.
O daughter, dear daughter, he is a great Lord’s son,
And a lady you shall be while he’s growing.

At the age of sixteen, he was a married man
At the age of seventeen a father to my son,
And at the age of eighteen the grass grew over him,
Cruel death put an end to his growing.

I made my love a shroud of the Holland, oh so fine
And every stitch I made, the tears they did pour down
And now like the grass that over him does grow
I'll watch his bonny child while he's growing.

The Travelling Fairies  ~  Traditional/Jon Bennett
One night they stayed in Glen Balaconish
Therein the blackbird builds her nest
Sleep now my wee one
The travelling fairies will come
Be silent......And I’ll call the birdie
 
One night they stayed in merry Glen Rushen
Therein the falcon builds her nest
 
One night they stayed on the head of a Spaniard
Therein the seagull builds her nest

All The Way Home  ~  [Jon Bennett]
Wherever you wander, wherever you roam
The sky above you goes all
The way home
 
Down through the pass and across the desert sand
And still the sea is many miles away
The fury of the midday sun, it burns to the bone
With every step along the way
 
From sticks and stones and broken bones I have my story made
And I come to you with ragged wings
We walk a common ground as hard as history 
And look for what the new day brings
 
This road is shaped by fortune and fate
With many more souls left behind
This road is carved with dreams and with hope
This road is forever mine

Prickle-Eye Bush  ~  [Traditional]
Oh the Prickle Eye Bush
That pricks my heart for sore
And if ever I get out of this Prickle Eye Bush
Then I never will get in it any more

Hangman, stay your hand
Stay it for a while
For I think I see my mother dear coming over yonder stile
Oh mother, have you brought me gold?
Or silver to set me free?
Or to save my body from the cold, cold ground
And my neck from the gallows tree
Oh no, I have not brought you gold
Or silver to set you free
Or to save your body from the cold, cold ground
And your neck from the gallows tree

Hangman, stay your hand
Stay it for a while
For I think I see my sister coming…..
Oh no, I have not brought you gold….

Hangman, stay your hand
Stay it for a while
For I think I see my own true love coming ….
Oh yes, I have brought you gold

Oh the Prickle Eye Bush
That pricks my heart for sore
Oh and now that I'm out of this Prickle Eye Bush
Then I never will get in it any more
Oh and now that I'm out of this Prickle Eye Bush
Then I never will get in it any more

Polly Vaughan  ~  [Traditional]
​Come all you young fellows who handle a gun
Beware how you shoot when the night is coming on
I’ll tell of a hunter whose life was undone
By the cruel hand of evil at the setting of the sun

She’d an apron wrapped around her
And he took her for a swan
But it’s oh and alas it was she,  Polly Vaughan

He ran to the lake and she was lying there
He turned away his head for the blood he could not bear
He lifted her up and he found she was dead
A fountain of tears for his true love he shed

Then homeward he ran with his dog and his gun
Crying’ “Father, oh Father, do you see what I have done”
Her ghost at the trial cried “Let the young man go
For I rested that evening like a fountain of snow”

He roamed near the place where his true love was slain
And wept bitter tears, but his cries were all in vain
As he looked on the lake, a swan glided by
And the sun slowly set in the grey of the sky

Tweets by MoonrakersBand

Weddings

Moonrakers is an ideal band for your wedding. Why?  Because we can provide a harp-centred musical piece for the formal ceremony, then a complete band concert and/or background instrumentals for the reception, etc.  To find out more go to www.theweddingsecret.co.uk/