Get all 4 Ninebarrow releases available on Bandcamp and save 15%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of The Waters and the Wild (Digital Edition) | 2018, Releasing The Leaves (Digital Edition) | 2016, While The Blackthorn Burns (Digital Edition), and Kingdom EP (Digital Edition) | 2013.
1. |
The Pinner
05:12
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Ninebarrow - The PInner
Hour after hour
The Pinner sits in her room
With her one tallow candle
She works in the gloom
She works with an aching
Even spring can’t dispel
The best in the county
All but one she will sell
Each day she runs
At the setting of the sun
With a hope in her heart
As the shadows grow long
To the chapel she goes
Past the fields and the barn
And she offers the stone
The best of her charms
Day after day
She takes brass wire and bone
Coiling and honing
She works on alone
She works with a fever
As the seasons they spin
Each day she’s hoping
For that one perfect pin
Year after year
The Pinner grows old
Failing eyesight and fingers
Her pins go unsold
Her pins go unsold
And they fill up that room
Filling bottles and boxes
As the copper turns blue
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2. |
For A Time
05:14
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Ninebarrow - For A Time
As I walked late down Tyneham way
I met a man grown old and grey
His house was scarred and tumbledown
We stopped to talk about his town
For a time
We’d given first our only sons
To foreign fields and distant guns
Then gave the very land you see
Assured that it would only be
For a time
So we took our belongings and our skills
And we were scattered through these hills
Trusted those men that we thought wise
And carried on believing lies
For a time
But look how the roots
break through these stones
How through these houses grass has grown
How wind and rain move through the halls
How shell and bullet mark the walls
Then he led me to the dragon’s teeth
And to the bay that lay beneath
And as the blood-red sunset burned
He shared the sum of all he’d learned
He said make the best of better days
Forever man himself betrays
For lies and empty guarantees
I played my part to keep you free
For a time…
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3. |
Lord Exmouth
03:08
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Ninebarrow - Lord Exmouth
Come all you British men of war
That love your native land!
I’ll have you join The Victory
Lord Exmouth gives command
Lord Exmouth does his rights maintain
As you shall quickly see
We fought like many lions bold
To set old England free
So come all you British tars
And maintain your glorious name
May you always leave Lord Exmouth though
To lead you over the main
Oh, the first broadside we gave to them
We took ‘em by surprise
We shot away their ensign staff
And down their colours lie
That’s very well done our captain cried
That’s bravely done cried he
Come load your guns, we’ll prime them well
And show them British play
So come all you tars be steady
And maintain your glorious name
May you always leave Lord Exmouth though
To lead you over the main
Oh, the next broadside we gave to them
We struck them such a wonder
Their lower yards, their maintop masts
Came clattering down like thunder
Oh, now that we have won the glory
Let us drink a glass of wine
And if you will drink to your true love
Then I will drink to mine
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4. |
To The Stones
04:12
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Ninebarrow - To the Stones
Follow me child, we’re walking out west
Up to The Ridge and beyond the crest
Where the thistles grow thick
and the autumn breeze sings its duet
with the lark above on the wing
Follow me child, where the sun rises slow
And bathes the rich fields in the dawn’s early glow
The trees not yet cleared, ruddy leaves on display
And we’ll visit our kin at the breaking of day
To the stones…
Follow me child, with your back to the tide
Where the wet grass grows green
and the red kestrel flies
That’s where we place our unchanging bones
supported,
encircled,
protected by stones
To the stones...
Follow me child, to that long barrow mound
Sitting high on The Ridgeway,
the jewel in its crown
If you’re ever in need you’ll not be alone
There’s power
and wisdom
Held there in the stones
To the stones…
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5. |
Weave Her a Garland
03:33
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Ninebarrow - Weave Her a Garland
How sweet are the flowers the grow by the fountain
How sweet are the cowslips that spangle the grove
More sweet it is the breeze that blows over the mountain
But none are so sweet as the charms of my love
I’ll weave her a garland
A fresh blooming garland of roses and lilies
And daff-a-down-dillies
I’ll weave her a garland
A fresh blooming garland
A garland I’ll give to the one I adore
The blackbirds and thrushes they rise in the morning
How softly they play their sweet notes by the grove
I’ll own it is pleasing,
Delightful and charming
To ease the fond sighs of the one that I love
It was down in the vale my sweetheart was walking
How happy I’d be to stand by her again
If she should prove false,
Give her heart to another,
For me to sing pleasure it would be in vain!
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6. |
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Ninebarrow - Let Your Back and Sides Go Bare
I would sooner be a beggar than a king
And I’ll tell you the reason why
A king cannot swagger
or walk like a beggar
Or be half as happy as I
Let your back & sides go bare me boys
Feet and your hands go cold
But give to your belly, boys
Beer enough
Whether it be new or old
Oh, I’ve a sixpence in my pocket lads
And I worked very hard for that
Oh there ain’t no Turk
that’s gonna make me work
When the beggin’ is as good as that
Sometimes we call at a nobleman’s hall
To beg for bread and beer
Sometimes we are lame
Sometimes we are blind
Sometimes too deaf to hear
Sometimes we lie like hogs in a sty
Frost and snow on the ground
Sometimes eat a crust
that’s rolled in the dust
And by thankful for what we’ve found!
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7. |
Three Ravens
02:31
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Ninebarrow - Three Ravens
There were three ravens on a tree
A-down, a-down, a-derry-down
There were three ravens on a tree
Hey-ho
And the middlemost raven said to me
There lies a dead man by yon’ tree
A-down, a-down, a-derry-down
Hey-ho
There comes a lady full of woe
A-down, a-down, a-derry-down
There comes a lady full of woe
Hey-ho
There comes a lady full of woe
Riding as fast as she can go
A-down, a-down, a-derry-down
Hey-ho
Who’s this that’s killed my own true love?
A-down, a-down, a-derry-down
Who’s this that’s killed my own true love?
Hey-ho
I hope in Heaven he’ll never rest
Nor e’er enjoy that blessed place!
A-down, a-down, a-derry-down
Hey-ho
There were three ravens on a tree
A-down, a-down, a-derry-down
There were three ravens on a tree
Hey-ho
There were three ravens on a tree
They were as black as black might be
A-down, a-down, a-derry-down
Hey-ho
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8. |
Blood on the Hillside
04:44
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Ninebarrow - Blood on the Hillside
One brings sorrow, two bring joy
Three a girl and four a boy
Five bring want and six bring gold
Seven bring secrets not to be told
There’s mist in the valley
obscuring the trees
A cold wind’s been blowing
releasing the leaves
A chill in the air
autumn’s fate has been sealed
Seven crown in the branches –
murder concealed
One brings sorrow, two bring joy…
There’s blood on the hillside
beneath the slate sky
Those carrion birds
stand silent nearby
Don’t stray too near to that circle of stones
There’s death on the air
by that pile of fresh bones
One brings sorrow, two bring joy…
Someone said seven figures last night
were lit by the flames of a flickering light
Singing songs through the air
in a tongue thought long lost
Now all that remains
is a corpse in the frost
One brings sorrow, two bring joy…
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9. |
Silent Prayer
04:14
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Ninebarrow - Silent Prayer
I will return, brave and bold,
Bringing stories and gold
And I will build you that home
From good hard wood and stone
But this dipping prow
Small hope allows
On these wretched waves!
With sloping mast
We’re driven fast
Through bitter air
In silent prayer
And I will buy you a gown
Stitched with flowers around
And I will ask for your hand
In the chapel we’ll stand
But this dipping prow…
And in the forest’s cool shade
Well walk up to that glade
To that tree that you love
Green and silver above
But this dipping prow…
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10. |
Coming Home
05:10
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Ninebarrow (written by Bob Whitley) - Coming Home
Dark winter nights are so long
Being patient and strong
Coming home, coming home
You’ll always be coming home to me
You’ll always be coming home to me
Coming home
Words crossing oceans and shores
Trying hard to reassure
So many nights still to last
Until we share our future and our pasts
When you’re home
I feel the black nights in which you freeze
Fighting for your life against the seas
Trying to be brave and face your fears
Against mountainous seas and passing years
Until you’re home
They tell me you were true and brave
Words of worthwhile feats
and men you’ve saved
When all I wanted was your fears
To hold you in your weakness,
through your tears
And to be home
Coming home, coming home
You’ll always be coming home to me
You’ll always be coming home to me
To meet again.
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11. |
Dark Eyed Sailor
04:36
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Ninebarrow - Dark Eyed Sailor
As I walked out one evening fair
It being the summer time, to take the air
I spied a sailor and a lady gay
And I stood to listen
To hear what they would say
He said ‘Fair lady why do you roam?
For the day is spent and the night is on.’
She heaved a sigh as the tears did roll
‘For my dark eyed sailor,
So young and stout and bold.’
‘Tis seven long years since he left this land
A right he took from his lily white hand
One half of the ring is still here with me
But the other’s rolling
At the bottom of the sea.’
He said ‘You may drive him out of your mind
Some other young man you will surely find
Love turns aside and cold does grow
Like a winter’s morning
The hills are white with snow.’
She said ‘I never would forsake my dear
Although we’re parted this many a year
Genteel he was a rake like you
To induce a maiden
And slight the jacket blue.’
One half of the ring did young William show
She ran distracted in grief and woe
Crying ‘William, William I have gold in store
For my dark eyed sailor
Has proved his honour long!’
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