CELTACHOR LYRICS

1. Arrival Of The Tuatha

Ships of fire burst through
The mist of the skies,
The Tuatha Dé Danann,
From the high air, arrive.
Four corners of the world,
Four cities, four wise men,
Four treasures!
Morias, Urias, Arias and Senias.

Nuada the High King,
Manannán, god of the Sea,
Ogma god of Ogham,
Diancécht god of Life,
Éire, Fódla and Banba,
And Dana the All Mother.

The first day of Bealtaine,
King Eochaid of the Fir Bolgs came
With his army from the South.
Residing in Magh Rein
Till the day of battle arrived.
The Tuatha arrived from the
Northwest of Connacht
To meet their enemy at Magh Rein.

The calm before the storm,
Winds whip through the fields of Temhair.

King Eochaid had a dark vision,
He told his druids,
In turn they told the King
That a strong enemy
Was rising up against him,
It would not be long till war would begin.

2. The Mighty Sreng

King Eochaid of the Fir Bolg's,
Had a meeting with his men,
A warrior to face the Tuatha.
His name the Mighty Sreng.
In return watchers of the Tuatha
Sent their own champion, Bres.
Both warriors observed each other
By the hillside of the mountain pass.

Raise your spears to the sky
Sword and shield grasped tight!
Eyes full of fire
Magh Nia, ready and willing to Fight!
Raise your spears to the sky
Sword and shield grasped tight!
Eyes full of fire
Magh Nia, ready and willing to die!

The two became puzzled,
When they spoke in their mother tongue.
They spoke in Irish and came to speak,
Laying down their shields for fear.
Observing the craft of each other's spear
To learn each ways fatal!
Craiseach was it's name,
The name Sreng gave them.

Raise your spears to the sky
Sword and shield grasped tight!
Eyes full of fire
Magh Nia, ready and willing to die!
Raise your spears to the sky
Sword and shield grasped tight!
Eyes full of fire
Magh Nia, ready and willing to fight!

Bres turned to Sreng and said
We will take half of Ireland!
And if we can not,
A war will begin, blood will flow.
Sreng went back to his king,
Told of what he'd learned,
When the king heard the offer he said:

Raise your spears to the sky
Sword and shield grasped tight!
Eyes full of fire
Magh Nia, ready and willing to Fight!
Raise your spears to the sky
Sword and shield grasped tight!
Eyes full of fire
Magh Nia, ready and willing to die!

3. King Eochaid's Fall

With the spear to his heart
And the wind in his hair,
To the Men of Dea, and he told them
Of the Fir Bolg warrior Sreng.
To Connacht they did march,
Preparing battlements for war,
Passing the mountain Belgata
To arrive at the field of battle,
At Magh Nia.

The Trinity of the Tuatha,
Badb, Macha and Anann,
Arrived at Temhair
Where the Fir Bolgs did rest.
They cast a mist dark and deep
And summoned showers
Of fire and blood!
The Fir Bolg's engulfed in flame,
Unable to see, unable to speak.

Eleven battalions of the Fir Bolgs
Marched and stood defiant
on the East,
Nuada sent Eochaid the offer,
Eochaid refused,
He would not show defeat.
The war was delayed,
By a quarter of a year,
Armour, swords and spears ready
Until the day of battle came.

From both sides, three times nine hurlers
Entered the battle but they will die.
Four days passed, warriors did fall
And on that day the tide was turned.
The Men of Dea rose up, and fell
On the Fir Bolgs like rain on the Earth.
Eochaid went for a drink,
His men not by his side,
But the Tuatha not far behind.
To the Strand they did go,
Nuada's Sons fought the King,
Dragging him into the sea,
Daggers endlessly piercing!

Leaving a heap of stones where he died,
The dead king now watches the sea.
A victory for the Tuatha.
This was the battle of Magh Tuiread.

4. Bres

During the fray of battle,
Nuada did lose his arm,
Cut off by the mighty Sreng.
For the law of the Tuatha,
That no man would be king
Armless and beaten lost to his kin.
The kingship now left for another to rise.
The Sun blasts light
Over mountains and skies,
Banners in the distance,
The High Men gather,
A legacy for a new king.
Spears to the sky, the Lia Fail screams
New king arise, lead and guide!

The Chosen of the land,
Bres was his name,
He lacked wisdom and knowledge,
His rule brought shame.
The Fomorians put a burden on his people,
By the leadership of the tyrant.
Their army was vast and feared by many,
The Tuatha stood defiant.
Taxes did bestow them,
Bres failed them as a king.

A debt on their cattle,
How did this fate begin?
Hated by the Tuatha,
His halls empty and cold.
No singers, dancers or music,
No tales would be told.
At a point during his rule,
Cridenbel was met
An old wretch of a man
And this is how this tale began.

Cridenbel did steal from
The Dagda’s plate,
Three pieces was the price,
Weak and starving
The Dagda suffered the worst.
But his son he did see,
A plan was made to feed
The old man gold,
Three pieces was the price.
The deed was done, the old man died.
Three pieces took his life.
Bres gave orders for the Dagda,
He went to the king,
Cridenbel was opened.
Gold lay within! Truth rings!
Bres forever would have no good luck,
Only failure, only Shame.
Forever, forever!

5. Nuada Of The Silver Arm

In the midst of that great battle, Nuada did loose his arm,
War cries in the deep,
Bodies at his feet,
The air thick loud and deafening
Steel through bone, fighting till death.
He rose between the valleys,
Let out his battle cry.
A great sickness, claimed the king.
Diancecht forge me a new arm!
The smith started to plan,
Lighting the fires once more.

Forging the Silver Arm,
In the great fires of Temhair
Sparks and embers ignite.
The clash of the Hammer on Steel,
The Arm rising from the flames,
The High King reborn,
The High King now whole.

Nuada Silver Arm, Nuada Airgead Lamh!
Nuada Silver Arm, Nuada Airgead Lamh!

Nuada returned to the Tuatha,
At the great halls of Temhair,
Now whole, he could claim
Back the throne.
Once again High King.
Anger possessed Bres,
He went to Eri for guidance.
Seek your father,
A ring of gold, Bres did claim.
They left on a silver vessel,
To the lands of the Fomor and their king,
Upon reaching Fomorian shores,
Elathan met his son Bres,
And he sent him to meet
Balor of the Evil Eye!

Nuada Silver Arm, Nuada Airgead Lamh!
Nuada Silver Arm, Nuada Airgead Lamh!

6. The Gathering At Teamhair

[Instrumental]

7. Second Battle Of Magh Tuireadh

As the sun shone on the day of battle,
The Men of Dea rose up,
Nuada and Lugh on the horizon
Sending their armies to war.

And still they march on,
To protect their homes
Spears and shields by their sides.
The Battle was frantic,
Many were lost,
The King Nuada did fall.

Lugh flew through the air
with his spear Gael Bolga held tight.
The horns of battle bellowing,
Uniting the screams from both sides.
A river of blood in its wake
The Men Of Dea went forth
To crush their enemies,
The Fomorian horde.

8. Nuada's Burial

[Instrumental]

9. Uaithne: The Dagda's Harp

At Battles end…
Dagda searched for his harp
Uaitne was its name!
A gift from the past,
They went to a great hall
Where Bres did reside.
Only he could make it sing,
Make it sound by his call.

Inside he calls his harp,
And at the sound of his voice
Flew from the wall to his arms,
Killing nine men on its way.
Three songs he cast upon them,
Three tunes to silence them all.
As the harp rang out,
The magic was cast.

First tune brought fits of laughter,
The second tune, a sea of despair,
The last brought a deadly sleep,
Never to wake again!
Again!

The song rang out,
Over mountain and seas,
Left as a memory to the past.
The notes of Uaithne, from every corner
And shore...







CELTACHOR LYRICS