ALLSOULS NIGHT

Bonfires dot the rolling hillside,
Figures dance around and around,
To drums that pulse echoes of darkness,
Moving to the pagan sound.

Somewhere in a distant memory,
Images float before my eyes,
Of fragrant nights of staw and bonfires,
And dancing until the next sunrise.

cho: I can see lights in the distance
Trembling in the dark cloak of night.
Candles and lanterns are dancing, dancing.
A waltz on all souls night.

Figures of cornstalks bend in the shadows,
Held up tall as the flames leap high.
A green knight holds a holly bush
To mark where the old year passes by.

Bonfires dot the rolling hillside,
Figures dance around and around,
To drums that pulse echoes of darkness,
Moving to the pagan sound.

Standing on the bridge that crosses
The river that goes down to the sea.
The wind is full of a thousand voices
They pass by the bridge and me.

(Loreena McKennit's version)

The end of October and start of November is the time of Hallowe'en, All Saints and All Souls, a time once thought full of magic, when the dead temporarily returned to the world of the living and roamed around the villages on the misty evenings. Till recently in parts of the Midlands and the Northwest, children went from door to door begging for soulcakes. [These] were food for the momentarily-returning dead, so that they would not feel rejected and thus be made angry.


Frost and Fire version

Chorus (repeat after each verse):
A soul, a soul, a soul cake,
Please, good missus, a soul cake,
An apple, a pear, a plum or a cherry,
Any good thing to make us merry.
One for Peter, two for Paul,
Three for Him that made us all.

God bless the master of this house and the mistress also
And all the little children that around your table grow,
Likewise your men and maidens, your cattle and your store
And all that dwells within your gates,
We wish you ten times more.

The lanes are very dirty and my shoes are very thin,
I've got a little pocket I can put a penny in.
If you haven't got a penny, a ha' penny will do,
If you haven't got a ha' penny, then God bless you.

Voices in Harmony version

Chorus (after each verse):
Oh, we are one, two, three good hearty lads, and we're all in one mind,
for we have come a-souling good nature to find,
for we have come a-souling for your money and your beer,
and we'll come no more so nigh to you till this time next year.

Go down into you cellar, boys, and it's there you will find
some strong beer, some cider, some ale or port wine;
with your white bread and cheese it will fill us with cheer,
for we'll come no more so nigh to you till this time next year.

Oh, come, dearest mistress, do not tarry to spin
but to untop a jug to draw some ale in,
and when we have gotten it, how soon you shall see,
and when we have drunken it, how merry we will be.

Come pick up your sackies, you sackies, good dame,
for wi' walking and talking we have gained her good name,
for wi' walking and talking we have got very dry,
and the last of your neighbours did not us* deny.

Now our time it is precious, and we cannot long stay;
we're a company that's designed for to taste of your ale;
we want none of your small beer, nor none of your pale,
but the one out of the kinter keg** that's next to the wall.

sharon

These are lovley,

Thankyou Sharon, Blessings Ron.

LOve these traditional songs - we should be bringing them back! Thanks Sharon.

I'll sing it for you next year if you like

sharon

Hi Sharon,
I will look forward to hearing it sung.

Blessings Ron

Me too!