Lyrics
In a tavern by the heather where the rain beat hard and thin
A young lad poured the porter while the night came crowding in
He bore a borrowed apron, owed his years and daily bread
'Til a stranger wrapped in charcoal wool spoke softly by his head
the name they gave you, boy
I know the name beneath
Come meet me on the mountain path
When dusk has drawn its wreath
The lad stared at the cloaked one
But the stranger slipped away
Like a cold beneath the river
Like a word the dark would say
Up the path to Caronto Hill
Where the cold winds comb the stone
A borough boy went climbing till
The mountain stood alone
With a flint, a rag, and wizard's hand
The hidden dark took flame
And the life he thought he'd lost before
Came calling out his name
The following evening found him where the mountain heather grew
With the sea below like hammered tin and gulls that vanished blue
The wizard led him off the track past thorn and leaning pine
To a door of stone and dripping moss no shepherd could divine
They entered where the water fell and silver beads below
And somewhere in the hollow rock a thunderous snoring rose
The wizard struck the flintstone, sparks flew bright and red
Then wrapped the rag around a branch and raised a torch overhead
Up the path to Caronto Hill where the cold winds combed the stone
A borough boy went climbing till the mountain stood alone
With a flint, a rag, and wizard's hand the hidden dark took flame
And the life he thought he'd lost before came calling out his name
There upon the cavern floor beneath the dripping crown
A sleeping dragon curled its wings and breathed the darkness down
Its scales were green as June's first grass, its claws were black as peat
And every breath it breathed made dust rise underneath its feet
You're the lost son of a wizard lad whose blood still marks your brow
Your father's craft is needed, there is little time now
A Viking fleet comes secret through the fog beyond the bay
And only you and I and fire can drive the wolves away
He taught him words for wind and wave, for iron, ash and rain
A word to wake the sleeping flame, a word to break a chain
The young lad spoke with shaking lips, then louder than before
And the dragon opened one bright eye and shook the cavern floor
They climbed above the cloud line where the whole green kingdom spread
While far below the dark ship slid like beetles painted red
The wizard raised his weathered hands and called into the gray
Come forth, old heart of thunder, come and guard this land today
From the clouds a dragon fell with a roar that split the sky
Its wings eclipsed the mountain and its fire climbed high
The lad raised up his trembling hands and shouted words he knew
Then his young dragon leapt aloft and through the storm wind flew
They wheeled above the Viking mass, they scorched the painted shields
They broke the oars and split the sails and drove them from the fields
The sea took back their iron prows, the waves erased their trail
And every surviving ship fled south beneath a torn and smoking sail
Then silence filled the mountains save the curlew's lonely cry
And the wizard's shape grew pale and thin beneath the clearing sky
A wand appeared within the lad's hand, silver-banded bright
While the old one smiled as morning touched the western high
Your name was waiting in the stone your road begins today
The wizard faded into mist and drifted far away
The old dragon slept in secret while the young one, proud and mild
Bent down beside its chosen lord and licked the wizard's smile
Now down in every western hall when winter fires burn low
They tell out from a tavern boy a guardian rose aglow
Up the path to Caronto Hill where the cold winds comb the snow
No wand in hand, a dragon near, the wizard guards his own
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