Come gather close before me
Come gather all around
And hear my tale of bloodshed
On old Lake Dragonmouth
Where four and twenty fighting men
Were butchered to the last
By one old crooked Horseman
And one heartbroken lass
In the town of Red Crow Mountain
There lived a soldier man
Who trod the deserts horseback
And conquered foreign lands
He was a handsome fellow
And spoke with easy charm
But when he sipped his liquor
His tongue did dreadful harm
He scorned a pretty farm girl
Who roamed the moors at night
Cavorting with strange travelers
None saw by daylight
The soldier sang his battlehymns
Beneath a drunken moon
And met with the Black Horseman
And thus began his doom
That old crooked dragoon
He was often seen by night
Riding hot on country roads
Howling free and wild
He broke the back of those he met
And there they died alone
From the crack of his old horse-whip
Made of human bone
They say he killed a thousand
Men and women too
No child nor dog was safe
On open roads beneath the moon
Whole towns at rest would wake
To the trampling of his hooves
Then the sun would rise up cold
On a trail of bodies hewn
Well he met his match in Oenghus
That handsome soldier man
Who bore the crack of that horse whip
So boldly he did laugh
The Horseman wheeled in shock
To be forced to strike a twice
For none yet living ever bore
The cold kiss of his splice
That old Horseman he turned about
And bore his demon grin
Then shed his riding overcloak
All made of human skin
The soldier turned on his boot heel
And cursed that demon’s hide
Next time I’ll face you sober
And one of us will die
He quickly fled unto the town
Of Red Crow Mountain old
There he gathered up a warband
Bearing pikes and slings and stones
It’s long past time that madman
Lay sleeping on our blade
So follow men if ye be bold
We’ll lay him in his grave
That maid that had been scorned
By the drunken soldier’s tongue
Saddled up her father’s horse
And leather cloak put on
She rode straight from the townyard
Through forests she rode out
And led them on a merry chase
To old Lake Dragonmouth
A hundred fifty corpses
Lay upon the shore
Every one a woman dead
Some long since turned to bone
That maiden there dismounted
And to the night she cried
Come Horseman to my aid
Come slay these men this night
That warband came upon her
And there they struck her down
Mistaking her by moonlight
For the Horseman on his mount
The soldier struck the mortal blow
That took her pretty head
One more corpse was piled
On the mound of women dead
Oh that Horseman riding hard
Rode those bastards down
Not a blade could touch his skin
No stone could cut his brow
Every man of warring age
That rode forth to the fight
Lost his life and skin
Except the soldier man that night
As there they stood among the dead
The Horseman finally spoke
So raspy did his voice come
Like a demon’s from his throat
Bold man I’ve struck you once
But I’ll not strike you more
It’s living you’ll be taken
To the ship upon the shore
And as the moonlight burst
From behind its bed of cloud
A ship emerged from mists
On the Lake of Dragonmouth
The Horseman’s whip did snap
And grab the soldier by the leg
Dragged he was onto that ship
That took him off into his grave
In the town of Red Crow Mountain
They lock their doors by night
And when a storm does cut ’em sore
They hear the Horseman ride
None leave their home by moonlight
For fear he’ll ride ’em down
Or worse still grab ’em up
And ship ’em off on Lake Dragonmouth
