Come Softly Over the Moor

[Verse 1] At Samhain, when the west wind turns, And peat smoke threads the door, Old Mairi sets an apple out For feet that walk no more. The blackthorn taps the windowpane, The cattle hush below; She says the hill is holding court For all the hidden folk. [Chorus] Come softly, come softly, over the moor, The old road remembers what daylight ignores. Leave bread by the threshold, leave fire in the grate; Some guests cross the dark when the year changes gate. [Verse 2] A white horse waits beside the ford, Its mane like winter foam; Don’t take its hand, the elders warn, Or never make it home. A child hears music from the mound, A tune with no known name; He follows three steps through the mist— The morning finds him changed. [Chorus] Come softly, come softly, over the moor, The old road remembers what daylight ignores. Leave bread by the threshold, leave fire in the grate; Some guests cross the dark when the year changes gate. [Bridge] So bolt the latch, but keep one light, And mind the rowan tied in red; For every tale the old ones told Still walks where living feet have fled. [Final Chorus] Come softly, come softly, over the moor, The old road remembers what daylight ignores. Leave bread by the threshold, leave fire in the grate; Some guests cross the dark when the year changes gate. [Outro] At Samhain, when the west wind turns, Let no kind stranger wait outside.