Solstice by Olivia Graham

LYRICS:

In Albion there’s a kind of hush
That echoes all around
The holly bears a berry red
And snow belies the ancient mound
Where clan and kindred gather
To greet the solstice dawn
While three thousand miles across the sea
A pauper-king is born

The harp is strung in Albion
As a piper takes the tune
A woven dance betwixt the stones
Neath the ever-watchful moon
The deer goes running joyful
Across the moor so wild
While three thousand miles across the sea
A virgin bears a child

Now clothed in green the Holly King
Moves across the snow
Just as he’s done each winter-tide
Since the first one, long ago
He brings a kindly spirit
To the children of the Earth
Rejoicing in their dancing
He knows about that distant birth
A log upon his back
Upon the hearth to burn
A gift to mark the season
That hails the sun’s return

(Veni, veni Emmanuel)

Now children by the fire
Count each fleeting spark
As High-Priestess and Druid
Pay reverence to the passing dark
And blesséd they who cast their eyes
On that bright new star above
From three thousand miles across the sea
Comes a blinding, binding love

(Veni, veni Emmanuel)

• British
• Celtic
• Celtic folk
• Christmas
• English folk
• Folk
• fantasy
• festive
• midwinter
• new age
• pagan
• singer-songwriter
• traditional
• winter
• York