CRUACHAN "THE MIDDLE KINGDOM" 2000 Karen Gilligan - Vocals, percussion Keith Fay - Vocals, elec. guitar, acoustic guitar, mandolin, bodhran, bones John Clohessy - Bass, backing vocals John O'Fathaigh - Irish flute, tinwhistles, low whistle, recorder, uilleann pipes Joe Farrell - Drums, percussion 01. A Celtic Mourning 02. Celtica (Voice Of The Morrigan) 03. The Fianna 04. A Druid's Passing 05. Is Fuair An ChroÎ 06. Cattle Raid Of Cooley (TÂin BÕ CuaÎlgne) 07. The Middle Kingdom 08. õrÕ SÊ Do Bheatha Abhaile 09. Unstabled (Steeds Of Macha) 10. The Butterfly 11. To Hell or to Connaught.(Bonus song) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 01. A CELTIC MOURNING Instrumental ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 02. CELTICA (VOICE OF THE MORRIGAN) On the ground he lays His lifeblood drains from him The battle has been fought And the fighting now stopped He scans the battlefield On the bloodshed he can see So many that have died And so few who survived His brother's men at arms Who he's known since he was a lad Lie silent by his side no longer alive Lying by a tree Is a broken shattered man Killed by the sword in my warrior's hand But in his heart He does not hate this man He fought for a cause He could not understand His brother's men at arms Who he's known since he was a lad Lie silent by his side no longer alive A thousand years have passed And mankind has stayed the same They fight against each other for political gain A police state rule, the government tool People live in fear under the madman rule His brother's men at arms Who've been with him since he was a lad Will fight by his side for the right to survive A thousand years more And the world may not exist The cause will be greed and an iron fist The spirits will rejoice Mankind will not be missed It's up to you It cannot come to this His brother's men at arms Who've been with him since he was a lad Will fight by his side for the right to survive ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 03. THE FIANNA When evening in êireann was grey Before the dawn they went away Their footsteps on hills were heard On journey long without a word >From wilderland to western shore Through dragon lair and hidden door >From northern waste to southern hill On darkling woods they walked at will With Fionn and õisÎn, dwarfe and man Bird and bough and beast in den With warrior-druid folk In secret tongues they spoke A deadly sword, a healing hand Trumpet voice, a burning brand Their backs that bent 'neath their load Those warriors on the road ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 04. A DRUID'S PASSING See the stone circle in the hilltop Shining in the light of the moon See the druid kneel in prayer Praying because his life will end soon For fifty years he has walked this earth For fifty years he has known no shame Now he knows it's time to return Back to the earth from whence he came See the stone circle on the hilltop Shining in the break of the day See the druid lying in silence See the druid who died today ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 05. IS FUAIR AN CHROî Medb; You said you would always be there You said you would always care You said you would always be there You said you would always care I was naÐve and I was wrong To you I do not belong! Ailill; Say what you want to say You always try to have your way I try to say that things in life are different If this is how you feel in your heart Then I don't want to be a part In anything you say - I won't listen Your love redeems my pain But I don't want to feel the shame You've tried to pierce my heart And you've succeeded We know now it could never be What we once had was ecstasy I can't pretend my soul is not bleeding ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 06. CATTLE RAID OF COOLEY (TâIN Bõ CUAîLGNE) Instrumental ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 07. THE MIDDLE KINGDOM We who are old yet fair of face Thousands of years this world did grace Beneath the earth away from men Our Middle Kingdom it lies hidden With sword in hand and our shields by your sides We march in hoards we will never subside Our DÊ Danann form has passed with time But still we love music and still we love wine We are of the forest, we are of the earth Our heads full of knowledge, our ways full of mirth We know all the answers to questions unasked We live in the light with no fear of the dark It must be said we have dark evil breeds Who plague mankind with their mischievous deeds The Phooka, the Merrow, the wailing Bean-Shee Are hideous creatures as dark as can be Avoid the lone thorn that grows in the field Do not cut it down with the axe that you wield It coarses magic from branch to root And woe to he who eats its fruit Of itself the tree did grow >From faerie magic cast long ago Therefore we bid you to let it stand Ill fortune to those who ignore our command "We who are old, we are revered, born of the earth, immortal and feared" In the dead of the night see us dance on the hills On fiddles and flutes we play jigs and reels The sky is ablaze with a myriad of light Our faerie music is heard through the night We who are old yet fair of face Thousands of years this world did grace But modern man and his cynical ways Are bringing us to the end of our days ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 08. õRõ Sê DO BHEATHA ABHAILE Se do bheatha a bhean leanmhar Bo Ba Ê ar gcreach tß bheith I ngÊibheann Do dhuiche bhre I seilibh mÊirleach 's tu diolta leis na gallaibh õrÕ sÊ bheatha 'bhaile õrÕ sÊ bheatha 'bhaile õrÕ sÊ bheatha 'bhaile 'Nois ar theacht an tsamhraidh T GrÂinne Mhaol ag teacht thar sÂile õglaigh armtha lÊi mar gharda Gaeil iad fein is nÎ Franc n SpÂinnigh Is cuifidh siad ruaig ar Ghallaibh A bhuÎ le RÎ na bhFeart go bhfeiceann Muna mbÎonn beo ina dheoidh ach seachtain GraÎnne Mhaol is mile gaiscÎoch Ag fÕgairt fÂin ar Ghallaibh Translation: Hail O bereaved woman It was our sorrow you being in fetters Your fine heritage in the possession of thieves And you held by the foreigners O welcome home O welcome home O welcome home Now at the coming of summer Grainne Ni Mhaille is coming over the sea Armed young men with her as guards Gaels themselves not French nor Spaniards And they will put a hunt on the foreigners Hanks to the king of wonders that I see Even if my life ends in but a week Grainne Ni Mhaille and a thousand voluteers Proclaiming the scattering of foreigners ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 09. UNSTABBLED (SEEDS OF MACHA) Roaming, Wandering Left in fields just sauntering Sold off, slept rough Kept unstabled and tough Riding steeds that know now their fate Forever forward Bought and sold for pennies Roaming, wandering unstabled Unspoiled in their fantasies But paled in society When they take the beast The fight unsung will never cease Polluted grasslands The plains they roamed are now gone Still roaming and wandering Another dead horse is falling 10. The Butterfly (Instrumental) 11. To Hell Or To Connaught We fled for our lives on a winter's eve, Cold but unheeded, we left with speed. The roundheads they had come this night, Our gallant people ? But blood in sight. If we were to barter for our lives, We would wind up dead. This is the land where I was born and bred, Am I a coward to avoid being dead ? These are the words of our forefathers, Long ago, in a time of fear. They say "what giveth returns time thee" Now in this age, we will wait and see. Condemn what you will in this war of worlds, Shout if you want amid peaceful slurs. But how do you stop a charging bull, With horns of steel and a desire to cull ?