Horseman - David McWilliams

It was on a cold and windy night

we sat waiting for the dawn

huddled close up to the fire

and the shutters all were drawn

when we heard hoof beats comin'

and a whinney in the night

and the moon hung on the mountain seemed to shiver

The horse pulled up inside the yard

and the horseman he leapt down

we could hear him running to the door

as his boot heels beat the ground

and we heard him breathing heavy

through the bitter howling wind

as he hammered roughly at the window

Open up your lattice

let your voices all be still

for the hounds are at my heels

and there’s yeomen on the hill

I need a horse and water

for my mare is spent and lame

and very door I knew seems closed against me

We held our hands against our ears

that we might not hear his plea

that we’d been called by heaven

at last to pay our fee

for the favours he had given

and the duties he had paid

like Peter in the market we denied him

Now the night wind it is silent

and the dogs the only sound

baying on the mountain

at the quarry they have found

and we who turned away are left

to live each waking day

ashamed to see our faces in the mirror

Now it is a cold and windy night

we sit waiting for the dawn

huddled close up to the fire

and the shutters all are drawn

for the saints have all forsaken

our every Hallows Eve

and the horseman rides upon the mountain