The Man of the High Cairn

Verse 1

By peat-fire light they spoke his name

Like thunder kept in stone

A man of mist, of iron years

Who walks the ben alone

They said he sleeps in cairn and cloud

With wolfskin on his back

A blade as old as mountain bone

To guard the narrow track

Verse 2

We laughed at tales the elders told

Till sails broke through the rain

Steel rang out across the glen

And fear took hold again

No men to stand, no walls to hold

Just prayers we couldn’t send

So we turned our faces to the hill

And begged the ben defend

Chorus

Pray not to kings nor crowned men

Pray to the hill, pray to the ben

When fire falls and horns draw near

The mountain hears, the mountain hears

Verse 3

The mist split wide, a shadow moved

Down granite, moss, and snow

No cry he gave, no banner raised

Just death in every blow

The earth itself seemed joined the fight

Stone, blade, and rain as one

The raiders fled the screaming slopes

By blood and thunder run

Chorus

Pray not to kings nor crowned men

Pray to the hill, pray to the ben

When ravens cry and night draws thin

The mountain stands, the mountain stands

Outro

At dawn we found no man nor trail

Just a new cairn wet with dew

Some swear the hill breathed out that morn

And watched us living through