We’ve updated our Terms of Use to reflect our new entity name and address. You can review the changes here.
We’ve updated our Terms of Use. You can review the changes here.

The Children of Lir

from Land and Legend by Spiral Dance

/

  • Streaming + Download

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    Purchasable with gift card

      $2 AUD  or more

     

  • Buy the Full Digital Album

  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    Our 2017 studio album

    Includes unlimited streaming of Land and Legend via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 7 days

      $20 AUD or more 

     

about

From the legend of Clann Lir, one of the stories in the Irish Mythological Cycle. Dedicated to the memory of Adrienne’s father Patrick Piggott, a masterful storyteller!

lyrics

In a time of bards and chieftains when the bright ones walked the land
And beauty slipped from silver strings touched by a minstrel’s hand
In a time when giants held the hills and stone circles rang with song
And the Lia Fail stood in the soil and Tara’s walls stood strong

A man of the De Dannan from a noble line was Lir
His wife the daughter of Ireland’s king and four children he loved dear
But Niamh his wife lost her life in child bed she did pass
And left four children filled with grief and Lir a broken heart

The King he sent to Lir his second daughter as a bride
And though she had a love for Lir no child could she abide
For Aoife had a jealous heart and took them far from home
To be rid of them for evermore and have the love of Lir alone

It was at the Lake of Oaks that it came to pass
With the power of her druids wand a mighty spell she cast
From now you’ll take the shape of swans and wild birds you will be
Nine hundred years will keep you on the lakes and on the sea

And over the wild waves flew the children of Lir
Down to the land of the ever living
This spell was laid upon them for nine hundred years
And till then there would be no returning

In the first three hundred years you’ll be trapped upon this shore
Then northward to the Sea of Moyle for yet three hundred more
Then to the stormy Atlantic the waters chill and deep
And in the Bay of Eris waves will rock you as you sleep

And when a queen from the South goes North to wed a king
And when you first reach dry land and you hear a Church bell ring
And when you find the lake of birds only then will you be free
But until then this mighty curse will keep you far from me

Across the winds of time the four swan children flew
And for the next nine hundred years only gales and storms they knew
Their beds were on the crest of waves and upon the rocky shore
And they keened a sad lament for all that had gone before

A new age dawned upon the land strangers to the Isle had come
Into the Hollow hills and mounds the Faerie folk had gone
So to the lake of Birds they flew high on snowy wings
To be free of the curse and hear a church bell ring

And like wind striping leaves from trees their swan bodies fell away
Their sweet singing voices stilled all turned to dust and clay
Blessings go with you Children of Lir beyond nine waves now fly
And their spirits made a final flight against the fading sky

And over the wild waves flew the children of Lir
Down to the land of the ever living
This spell was laid upon them for nine hundred years
And till then there would be no returning

credits

from Land and Legend, released May 31, 2020
A. Piggott

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

Spiral Dance image

Spiral Dance Adelaide, Australia

With a combination of haunting vocals, intoxicating guitar riffs and groovy accordion lines, underpinned with potent bass and dynamic percussion, Spiral Dance presents an eclectic blend of traditional folk-rock with powerful self-penned songs and tunes. Rousing melodies intertwine with tales of Magick, myth and legend - music that will rock your ancestors! ... more

contact / help

Contact Spiral Dance

Streaming and
Download help

Redeem code

Report this track or account

If you like Spiral Dance, you may also like:

Bandcamp Daily  your guide to the world of Bandcamp

On Bandcamp Radio

Featuring Riley Pinkerton (aka The Rat Queen) from the theatrical NYC rockers, Castle Rat.
listen now