The Secrets of the Stones
Author: Dave Barron
Air: England's Motorway

Dublin Core

Title

The Secrets of the Stones
Author: Dave Barron
Air: England's Motorway

Subject

England’s Motorway is a song about the Irish man away from home and building a legacy in stone. Ireland’s culture was one of oral tradition and most buildings in the Celtic era were made from wood. However, there was also stone work of exceptional quality, think of the passage tombs, the great Dolmens, the Celtic crosses, the round towers, the tower houses, the castles. Imagine the stories they could tell about our history and our ancestors; if only we knew how to tap into the ‘secrecies of stone’!

Description

The druids worshipped golden Fionn five thousand years ago;
They marked his birthday every year in monuments of stone;
And when mid-winter morning sun peeped o’er the rim of gold
It lit the shrine of Newgrange stone right to the very core.
CHORUS
It’s in our bones and it’s in the stones,
It’s hidden in the stones.
The story of our Irish soul
Is written in the stones
CúChulainn chose a life so short, but long-term fame and glory.
He lived life well, he faced his hells, he lives in tale and story;
And when his time to pass came round, much sooner than for most
He died alone, the raven found him fastened to a stone.
CHORUS
Our Celtic bards kept history in song and tale and lore.
The early monks then wrote their books in timber huts, remote.
But huts were burned and lore forgot, we needed something more
So Cill and tower, and cell and bower were built with solid stone.
CHORUS
The Celtic clans built dún and rath in timber, more than stone;
But Norman towers, a stronger power, used harder, lasting stone.
Then English walls maintained their laws, the Celtic way was o’er,
The people gone, the culture lost but minded in the stones.
CHORUS X 2

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Citation

“The Secrets of the Stones Author: Dave Barron Air: England's Motorway,” From Carlow Streams, accessed March 29, 2024, https://fromcarlowstreams.ie/items/show/207.