Chords for Mychael Danna & Jeff Danna: A Celtic Tale: The Legend of Deirdre Part 1

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_ [G] _ _ _ A long time ago in [F#] Ireland, King Connacher of Ulster stood on a raised podium [Dm] in the
great hall of his palace.
[D] The day was over and it was now [C]
twilight, the beginning [D] of
Savin.
More than a thousand people gathered in the King's Hall and [G] the uproar was joyous
as the [Dm] King's servants prepared for the first night of the [Gm] feast.
Poets [G] sang, women danced
and the King's knights, the knights [D] of the Red Branch, laid down their arms and told
stories of noble [G] adventures.
Despite the merriment, [Gm] Cathbad the Druid [D] stood alone in the stone
archway window, staring afar into the other world.
Perhaps only Malcolm, the King's harper,
was at peace, for his wife, [F] Elva, was with child.
[D#] They sat together on a [D] pile of woven
blankets [Cm] in a darkened corner of the great hall and talked in [G] gentle whispers.
_ King Connacher
raised [G] his wine horn in a grand gesture.
[D]
He was about to [G] speak when a cry arose [Cm] that pierced
the air.
Fear spread through the [F] people and silence, [D] such as a seashell gives the ear,
dropped across the room.
A few knights drew their weapons and prepared to [Dm] defend the King. _ _
_ _ Do not stir, [G]
commanded the King.
Take not one step until the cause [A] of that noise be
known.
_ [G]
Cathbad stepped [A] forward into the great hall and raised his staff.
He removed the
hood from his cloak [Gm] and his silver hair reflected the candlelight.
His face, [G] wrinkled as a winter
apple, looked up slowly [A] and he said to the King, I have been [D] observing the clouds, [Cm] the
age of the moon and the posture of the stars this week.
He [Gm] walked to where Elva lay, for it had
been [Cm] discovered that it was the child of her womb that had [F] cried out.
_ He placed his hands over Elva's
stomach and spoke of the child's future.
_ _ [Gm] This is no common child.
[C] She is a child of great beauty
and her [Cm] name shall be Deirdre [D] and from her beauty will arise a sharp sword to split the tree of
[Gm] Ulster.
Kings will seek to marry her and this will lead to disaster.
The Red Branch will [G] divide itself and there will be [G] warfare because of her. _
Having spoken, [Gm] he retired again to his contemplation of [D] the skies.
[G] Kill the child, cried one of the knights.
Is [G] the life of one child worth the destruction of many?
What say you, King Conacher?
_ _ [Cm] The King knew the Druid's prophecies to be [F] accurate, but his [Gm] curiosity about such extraordinary [Cm] beauty
overcame him.
He spoke [A#] calmly to the people.
_ _ It is not [Cm] good for Elva to see her child die before [G] it is born [Gm] and I must not bring pain to the hearts of my guests.
Many people stirred and murmured to [Gm] one another, not persuaded.
Conacher raised his [D#] left hand for silence.
This child will be [F] born, he continued.
I will have her [Dm] raised in a secluded [G] place and I will marry her myself when she is grown.
[D] As my charge and then as my wife, she will be unable to
cause harm.
In this [Gm] way, I will defeat the prophecy. _ _
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_ _ [G] In two weeks time, the child Deirdre was born.
[D] Before she was a year old, the King built a thatched [Am] house of stone upon [A] the knoll of a distant hill.
[Am] A fine orchard was planted around the hut [G] and enclosed by a circular wall of field stones.
[D] Deirdre was to live there as the sole charge of [Am] the Varghem, the King's storyteller, who now a young woman, had been [C] raised in King Conacher's household.
[E] The King trusted her,
beyond any other.
_ Guard my [F#] treasure, he told the [Em] Varghem, and you shall see [F#m] your reward.
_ [Em] _ Deirdre [Bm] was raised among the great [Em] hunting lands.
The Varghem [Bm] taught Deirdre all she [Em] knew about herbs,
[Bm] flowers, trees and [Em] skies and how to play the [F#m] harp and sing.
[Em] Daily she grew more patient [F#m] and kind,
honest [Em] and fair.
Her [Bm] hair was crimson and her [Em] body was honey-coloured like a golden orchid.
[Am] Only her cheeks and lips and fingertips were [G] coloured by faint carmine.
[D] To gaze [Am] upon her was
to find one's gaze slipping, [G] grasping for a hold on some [D] part of her that was [Em] not in balance with
the remainder.
She fired [D] the imagination with a look or gesture which gave [Am] meanings to common
things.
Let her kneel and [C] stroke the head of a fine hunting dog, and you felt that there was [Em] goodness
in all animals.
Her heart grew [D] strong and revealed its quality in her body.
[Am] _ _ _
One day in the [C] autumn of
her fifteenth year, the Varghem told Deirdre [G] that she was to marry the King the following year.
It [D] saddened her and she grew despondent.
[Am] When the Varghem saw her distress, she said,
but you shall marry the King.
[C] This is to be the honour of your [G] life.
Deirdre merely sighed and
refused [D] to eat. _ _ _
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