The Bells of Fotheringay

[Intro : lute arpeggios] The winter came quietly to Fotheringay, Grey as a widow's veil, The bells were counting down the hours, And the wind was in the pale. A queen beneath a borrowed sky, With prayers upon her tongue, Walked through the silent corridors Where all her years had hung. [Chorus] Oh Mary, Mary, Queen of Scots, The crown was cold and bright, You carried all your kingdoms Into Fotheringay night. The axe may fell the woman, But it cannot kill the name— And history keeps whispering Mary Stuart all the same. [Verse 2] They dressed her in her crimson gown, The colour of a rose, And through the watching chamber doors The final procession goes. No army stood behind her now, No court, no trumpets played, Just faithful hands and whispered prayers And shadows on the blade. [Chorus] Oh Mary, Mary, Queen of Scots, The crown was cold and bright, You carried all your kingdoms Into Fotheringay night. The axe may fell the woman, But it cannot kill the name— And history keeps whispering Mary Stuart all the same. [ Verse 3] She knelt beneath the winter light, The room was holding breath, A lifetime's crowns and castles Were balanced there with death. She spoke her final prayers aloud, Then darkness filled the hall— And somewhere far beyond the walls, The river seemed to call. [Bridge] Elizabeth remained upon the throne, Mary beneath the ground, Two queens forever bound by blood, By silence and by sound. One signed the fatal sentence, One walked to meet the end— And neither could escape the ghost Of sister, rival, friend. [Final Chorus] Oh Mary, Mary, Queen of Scots, Your crown was cold and bright, But crowns are made of passing things, And names endure the night. The axe may fell the woman, The throne may fade away— But Mary Stuart's shadow Still walks Fotheringhay. And the bells of Fotheringay Still ring across the years.