Biography:
Loreena Isabel Irene McKennitt, CM OM (born February 17, 1957 in Morden, Manitoba, Canada) is a Canadian musician, composer, harpist, accordionist, and pianist who writes, records and performs world music with Celtic and Middle Eastern themes. She is self-managed, self-produced and head of her own record label - Quinlan Road. In a recording career spanning three decades, McKennitt's “eclectic Celtic” music has won critical acclaim worldwide and gold, platinum and multi-platinum sales awards in fifteen countries across four continents.
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Other songs:
- La Serenissima
- All Souls Night
- Annachie Gordon
- As I Roved Out
- Banks Of Claudy
- Beneath A Phrygian Sky
- Bonny Portmore
- Caravanserai
- Carrickfergus
- Come By The Hills
- Courtyard Lullaby
- Coventry Carol
- Cymbeline
- Dantes Prayer
- Dickens Dublin
- Down By The Sally Gardens
- Emmanuel
- Full Circle
- Greensleeves
- In Praise Of Christmas
- Kellswater
- Let Us The Infant Greet
- Marrakesh Night Market
- Moon Cradle
- My Heart Is Refusing Me
- Never
- Noel Nouvelet
- On A Bright May Morning
- Penelopes Song
- Prosperos Speech
- Raglan Road
- Samain Night
- Seeds Of Love
- Skellig
- Snow
- Standing Stones
- Stolen Child
- Tango To Evora
- The Bonny Swans
- The Dark Night Of The Soul
- The Death Of Queen Jane
- The English Ladye And The Knight
- The Highwayman
- The King
- The Lady Of Shalott
- The Mummers Dance
- The Mystics Dream
- The Old Ways
- The Seasons
- The Seven Rejoices Of Mary
- The Star Of The County Down
- The Two Trees
- Wassailing Song
Four years of hard work!This month of May we celebrated four years on the air. We continue working on the dissemination of this wonderful instrument, thank you for participating in our story!
Capo on 3rd (how I play it)
Intro: Am Am7 C G Am
Strumming pattern for intro: Am || Am7 | C ||| G ||| Am |||
Verse:
Am C G Am
The wind was a torrent of darkness among the gusty trees
Am C G Am
The moon was a ghostly galleon tossed upon the cloudy seas
Dm G C G
The road was a ribbon of moonlight over the purple moor
Dm G C
And the highwayman came riding,
G
Riding, riding,
Am C G Dm
The highwayman came riding, up to the old inn-door.
Am C G Am
He'd a French cocked hat on his forehead, a bunch of lace at his chin,
Am C G Am
A coat of claret velvet, and breeches of brown doe-skin;
Dm G C G
They fitted with nary a wrinkle; his boots were up to the thigh
Dm G C
And he rode with a jewelled twinkle,
G
His pistol butts a-twinkle,
Am C G Dm
His rapier hilt a-twinkle, under the jewelled sky.
Am C G Am
Over the cobbles he clattered and clashed in the dark innyard,
Am C G Am
And he tapped with his whip on the shutters, but all was locked and barred;
Dm G C G
He whistled a tune to the window, and who should be waiting there?
Dm G C
But the landlord's black-eyed daughter,
G
Bess, the landlord's daughter,
Am C G Dm
Plaiting a dark red love-knot into her long black hair.
Am C G Am
"One kiss, my bonny sweetheart, I'm after a prize tonight,
Am C G Am
But I shall be back with the yellow gold before the morning light;
Dm G C G
Yet if they press me sharply, and harry me through the day,
Dm G C
Then look for me by the moonlight,
G
Watch for me by the moonlight,
Am C G Dm
I'll come to thee by the moonlight, though hell should bar the way.
Am C G Am
He rose upright in the stirrups; he scarce could reach her hand
Am C G Am
But she loosened her hair i' the casement! His face burnt like a brand
Dm G C G
As the black cascade of perfume came tumbling over his breast;
Dm G C
And he kissed its waves in the moonlight,
G
(Oh, sweet waves in the moonlight!)
Am C G Dm
Then he tugged at his rein in the moonlight, and galloped away to the west.
INTRO X2
Am C G Am
He did not come at the dawning; he did not come at noon,
Am C G Am
And out of the tawny sunset, before the rise o' the moon,
Dm G C G
When the road was a gypsy's ribbon, looping the purple moor,
Dm G C
A red-coat troop came marching,
G
Marching, marching
Am C G Dm
King George's men came marching, up to the old inn-door.
Am C G
They said no word to the landlord, they drank his ale instead,
Am C G
But they gagged his daughter and bound her to the foot of her narrow bed
Dm G C G
Two of them knelt at the casement, with muskets at their side!
Dm G C
There was death at every window
G
And hell at one dark window;
Am C G
For Bess could see, through the casement,
Dm
The road that he would ride.
Am C G Am
They had tied her up to attention, with many a sniggering jest;
Am C G Am
They had bound a musket beside her, with the barrel beneath her breast!
Dm G C
"now keep good watch!" And they kissed her.
G
She heard the dead man say
Dm G C
"Look for me by the moonlight
G
Watch for me by the moonlight
Am C G Dm
I'll come to thee by the moonlight, though hell should bar the way!"
Am C G Am
She twisted her hands behind her, but all the knots held good!
Am C G Am
She writhed her hands till her fingers were wet with sweat or blood!
Dm G C G
They stretched and strained in the darkness and the hours crawled by like years!
Dm G C
Till, now, on the stroke of midnight,
G
Cold, on the stroke of midnight,
Am C G
The tip of one finger touched it!
Dm
The trigger at least was hers!
INTRO X2
Am C G Am
Totelot-totelot! Had they heard it? The horse's hooves rang clear
Am C G Am
Totelot-totelot, in the distance! Were they deaf that they did not hear?
Dm G C G
Down the ribbon of moonlight, over the brow of the hill,
Dm G C
The highwayman came riding,
G
Riding, riding!
Am C G
The red-coats looked to their priming!
Dm
She stood up straight and still!
Am C G Am
Totelot in the frosty silence! Totelot, in the echoing night!
Am C G Am
Nearer he came and nearer! Her face was like a light!
Dm G C G
Her eyes grew wide for a moment! She drew one last deep breath,
Dm G C
Then her finger moved in the moonlight,
G
Her musket shattered the moonlight,
Am C G Dm
Shattered her breast in the moonlight and warned him with her death.
INTRO x2
Am C G Am
He turned; he spurred to the west; he did not know she stood
Am C G Am
Bowed, with her head o'er the musket, drenched with her own red blood!
Dm G C G
Not till the dawn he heard it; his face grew grey to hear
Dm G C
How Bess, the landlord's daughter,
G
The landlord's black-eyed daughter,
Am C G Am
Had watched for her love in the moonlight, and died in the darkness there.
Am C G Am
Back, he spurred like a madman, shrieking a curse to the sky
Am C G Am
With the white road smoking behind him and his rapier brandished high!
Dm G C G
Blood-red were the spurs in the golden noon; wine-red was his velvet coat,
Dm G C
When they shot him down on the highway,
G
Down like a dog on the highway,
Am C G Dm
And he lay in his blood on the highway, with the bunch of lace at his throat.
INTRO X4
Am C G Am
Still of a winter's night, they say, when the wind is in the trees,
Am C G Am
When the moon is a ghostly galleon, tossed upon the cloudy seas,
Dm G C G
When the road is a ribbon of moonlight over the purple moor,
Dm G C
A highwayman comes riding,
G
Riding, riding,
Am C G Dm
A highwayman comes riding, up to the old inn-door.
INTRO X4
Intro: Am Am7 C G Am
Strumming pattern for intro: Am || Am7 | C ||| G ||| Am |||
Verse:
Am C G Am
The wind was a torrent of darkness among the gusty trees
Am C G Am
The moon was a ghostly galleon tossed upon the cloudy seas
Dm G C G
The road was a ribbon of moonlight over the purple moor
Dm G C
And the highwayman came riding,
G
Riding, riding,
Am C G Dm
The highwayman came riding, up to the old inn-door.
Am C G Am
He'd a French cocked hat on his forehead, a bunch of lace at his chin,
Am C G Am
A coat of claret velvet, and breeches of brown doe-skin;
Dm G C G
They fitted with nary a wrinkle; his boots were up to the thigh
Dm G C
And he rode with a jewelled twinkle,
G
His pistol butts a-twinkle,
Am C G Dm
His rapier hilt a-twinkle, under the jewelled sky.
Am C G Am
Over the cobbles he clattered and clashed in the dark innyard,
Am C G Am
And he tapped with his whip on the shutters, but all was locked and barred;
Dm G C G
He whistled a tune to the window, and who should be waiting there?
Dm G C
But the landlord's black-eyed daughter,
G
Bess, the landlord's daughter,
Am C G Dm
Plaiting a dark red love-knot into her long black hair.
Am C G Am
"One kiss, my bonny sweetheart, I'm after a prize tonight,
Am C G Am
But I shall be back with the yellow gold before the morning light;
Dm G C G
Yet if they press me sharply, and harry me through the day,
Dm G C
Then look for me by the moonlight,
G
Watch for me by the moonlight,
Am C G Dm
I'll come to thee by the moonlight, though hell should bar the way.
Am C G Am
He rose upright in the stirrups; he scarce could reach her hand
Am C G Am
But she loosened her hair i' the casement! His face burnt like a brand
Dm G C G
As the black cascade of perfume came tumbling over his breast;
Dm G C
And he kissed its waves in the moonlight,
G
(Oh, sweet waves in the moonlight!)
Am C G Dm
Then he tugged at his rein in the moonlight, and galloped away to the west.
INTRO X2
Am C G Am
He did not come at the dawning; he did not come at noon,
Am C G Am
And out of the tawny sunset, before the rise o' the moon,
Dm G C G
When the road was a gypsy's ribbon, looping the purple moor,
Dm G C
A red-coat troop came marching,
G
Marching, marching
Am C G Dm
King George's men came marching, up to the old inn-door.
Am C G
They said no word to the landlord, they drank his ale instead,
Am C G
But they gagged his daughter and bound her to the foot of her narrow bed
Dm G C G
Two of them knelt at the casement, with muskets at their side!
Dm G C
There was death at every window
G
And hell at one dark window;
Am C G
For Bess could see, through the casement,
Dm
The road that he would ride.
Am C G Am
They had tied her up to attention, with many a sniggering jest;
Am C G Am
They had bound a musket beside her, with the barrel beneath her breast!
Dm G C
"now keep good watch!" And they kissed her.
G
She heard the dead man say
Dm G C
"Look for me by the moonlight
G
Watch for me by the moonlight
Am C G Dm
I'll come to thee by the moonlight, though hell should bar the way!"
Am C G Am
She twisted her hands behind her, but all the knots held good!
Am C G Am
She writhed her hands till her fingers were wet with sweat or blood!
Dm G C G
They stretched and strained in the darkness and the hours crawled by like years!
Dm G C
Till, now, on the stroke of midnight,
G
Cold, on the stroke of midnight,
Am C G
The tip of one finger touched it!
Dm
The trigger at least was hers!
INTRO X2
Am C G Am
Totelot-totelot! Had they heard it? The horse's hooves rang clear
Am C G Am
Totelot-totelot, in the distance! Were they deaf that they did not hear?
Dm G C G
Down the ribbon of moonlight, over the brow of the hill,
Dm G C
The highwayman came riding,
G
Riding, riding!
Am C G
The red-coats looked to their priming!
Dm
She stood up straight and still!
Am C G Am
Totelot in the frosty silence! Totelot, in the echoing night!
Am C G Am
Nearer he came and nearer! Her face was like a light!
Dm G C G
Her eyes grew wide for a moment! She drew one last deep breath,
Dm G C
Then her finger moved in the moonlight,
G
Her musket shattered the moonlight,
Am C G Dm
Shattered her breast in the moonlight and warned him with her death.
INTRO x2
Am C G Am
He turned; he spurred to the west; he did not know she stood
Am C G Am
Bowed, with her head o'er the musket, drenched with her own red blood!
Dm G C G
Not till the dawn he heard it; his face grew grey to hear
Dm G C
How Bess, the landlord's daughter,
G
The landlord's black-eyed daughter,
Am C G Am
Had watched for her love in the moonlight, and died in the darkness there.
Am C G Am
Back, he spurred like a madman, shrieking a curse to the sky
Am C G Am
With the white road smoking behind him and his rapier brandished high!
Dm G C G
Blood-red were the spurs in the golden noon; wine-red was his velvet coat,
Dm G C
When they shot him down on the highway,
G
Down like a dog on the highway,
Am C G Dm
And he lay in his blood on the highway, with the bunch of lace at his throat.
INTRO X4
Am C G Am
Still of a winter's night, they say, when the wind is in the trees,
Am C G Am
When the moon is a ghostly galleon, tossed upon the cloudy seas,
Dm G C G
When the road is a ribbon of moonlight over the purple moor,
Dm G C
A highwayman comes riding,
G
Riding, riding,
Am C G Dm
A highwayman comes riding, up to the old inn-door.
INTRO X4
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