Purple Ribbons from Oblivious by Mick Blake

Purple Ribbons

Purple ribbons, six years old
Lilac jumper for the cold,
Full of love and life that bright March day
Dry stone wall on wet soft land
Taytos clutched in tiny hand
Follows as her uncle leads the way

Boots too big to keep the pace
She turns to travel back
And disappears without a trace along that mountain track
Now hundreds searched and thousands prayed
But soon all hope began to fade
And questions lie unanswered to this day
It's forty years since Mary went away

Now some say in Saint Mary's Church
A broken man does kneel to pray
But still his troubled mind can find no rest
He mumbles a confiteor, and something inside starts to stir
The guilt becomes much harder to suppress

Maybe it's a memory of that March afternoon
A vision of a little girl who left this world too soon
Now in the twilight of his years
Perhaps it's God, not man, he fears
It's too late to repent come judgement day
If no-one knows why Mary went away

Now on that hill in Cashelard
A cottage crumbles in the yard
A victim of neglect just like the truth
the bitter winds of Donegal whistle 'round those gable walls
A soft lament for Mary's stolen youth

And those of you who dare not spake of what befell that child
How can you in truth forsake that infant meek and mild
For lips were sealed and blind eyes turned
And any hope of justice spurned
To shield the one who stilled her childish play
For someone knows why Mary went away

• Folk
• political
• protest
• singer-songwriter
• Leitrim Village