-
Montague
Whitsel
Down by the Cromlech where the green water flows,
_down by their Abbey when it snows—
The Faery come out with Dust on their clothes
_dancing in their Dolmen_ there it glows!
Down by the portal to the Sidhe there he goes_
_down by their Abbey when it snows—
St Patrick comin’ out, dancin’ in his throes
_circling with the Faery_ there he knows—
The wind and the pain and the fire in his head
_down by their Abbey where it starts—
The circle is a-turning, the Spirit looks ahead
_to the hooley at Meath_ amid the Airts!
Refrain1—
Dancing East_
Dancing West_
Ole Pádraig goes winding in and out!
Dancing North_
Dancing South_
He Crosses all the World and comes
about!
Dancing at Meath with the Faery in their stead
_out beyond their Abbey where they go—
Circling with Patrick on the mead and the turf
_re-rhyming in a hooley_ there they go!
Dancing round the Well of the Olde Mystic Life
_Saint Patrick and the Faery tone the Tune!
Spiraling out their woes, writhing to the fife_
_down at their Abbey_ there they rune!
Refrain2—
Dancing East,
Dancing South,
The Faery come winding round the
ring!
Dancing West,
Dancing North,
All the Good Folk laugh and sing!
Down by the Crannog where the Sluagh-Sidhe abide
_out beyond their Abbey where they ride—
Saint Patrick with the Faery, merry do they glide
Stepping on the sods_ there they slide!
A slippin’ through the otherworld, in peace they abide,
Joining hands and hearts_ division they deride—
Together now they dance_ for Love so full astride,
gathered at old crossings_ in rhymes to reside!
Coming now together where the Mystic Water flows,
Down at the Dolmen where the Faery Dust glows_
Patrick and the Faery, in their ráth they unclothe
the Presence of the TRIBANN_ witch now shows—
The unity of All in the World that’s now a-comin’
_out below their Abbey when it Snows—
Dancing in the UnderEarth in a Deep Blue River;
_let us all dance, now_ where it goes!
CODA—
Dancing with the Faery _there he
goes!
Dancing with Saint
Patrick_ there they go!
Dancing with
the faery _ there he goes!
Dancing with the All_ let us go!
Dancing with the All_ let us go!
Let us go!
Finis
Terms—
Airts – the Four
Directions (North, East, South, West). In
mythic terms, the four towers of the four directions.
Crannog -- a house, oratory, or other structure set out on the water near the shore of a lake or river, set up on pillions and having a wooden deck around it.
Crannog -- a house, oratory, or other structure set out on the water near the shore of a lake or river, set up on pillions and having a wooden deck around it.
Cromlech – a
circle of standing stones with a dolmen or other stone structure within it.
Dolmen – a lithic
structure, usually with three or four standing stones over which a flat stone
is laid. Probably an old Neolithic burial,
but in Celtic times often treated as ‘portals’ between the ‘worlds’ and later –
by the Celtic saints – as places of prayer and meditation.
Dust –
Refers to “Faery Dust”
The Faery –
the Olde Folk of the Celtic lands—the “Sluagh-Sidhe (pronounced “Shew-a-shay” People of the Sidhe)
Hooley – a house
party; in this context: in the Otherworld with Faery music, dancing and
singing.
Meath – the ‘central’
county of Ireland; in myth the seat of the old gods and goddesses and in
spirituality a symbol of the “center’ of the person; the Heart—the place
wherein we dwell most authentically in silence and solitude.
Sidhe – a name
for the Otherworld or for the doorways between this world and the Otherworld.
Sluagh-Sidhe – “people
of the Sidhe” i.e., the Faeryfolk
