Noon of the Solstice

Noon of the Solstice

(Damh the Bard)

This was the second Pagan song I ever wrote. It was the time of the Summer Solstice, and I was walking my dog through a local woods at Ditchling Common. The day was bright, and I began to hum a tune, then the chorus just appeared from out of the blue, quickly followed by the verses. Dedicated to Old Horny himself.

In times long past lived a Man of green,
And his footsteps brought life wherever he’d been.
In the deepest wildwood was the place he was seen,
And the people did love and protect him.
And they saw his face change with the turn of the Wheel of the Seasons,
They heard his voice sing.

(Chorus)
I’m the Horned God,
I’m the face in the trees,
I’m the breath of the wind that rustles the leaves,
I’m the Green Man in the wildwood I roam,
Cernunnos, I’m Pan and I’m Herne.

I shall be as the Dark Holly King,
Darkness and cold in my cloak I will bring,
And on Winter’s nights to me you will sing,
Till the air around me starts changing,
And on the noon of the solstice I’ll give up my crown,
To the Light and the Mighty Oak King.

All Summer long I shall rule just and fair,
Bring your crops to fruit with the light that I share,
With fire and water, from earth into air,
But the Wheel it keeps steadily turning.
And on the noon of the Solstice I’ll give up my crown,
To the cold and the Dark Holly King.

T’is now modern times and the Summer is here,
The Winter has gone and the air it is clear,
On a fine day I walked through a woods I live near,
When a battle I spied through a clearing,
Two giants of leaves, one light and one dark,
Even now the Wheel it is turning!