Although the history of the Saibhrean Isles has recorded much conflict between the various settlements as the various clans have vied for superiority, there are many more aspects of the island culture that unite the people than there have been reasons to fight one another. As the old Saibhrean saying goes, “by fist I rest, by song I rise,” it’s not uncommon for the same people to come to blows one day and join one another in song the next. Coming from the island of Talamor, but popular throughout all of the isles, one such song is “The Old Stone Wall”, a ‘drinking song’ about isolationism sung in chorus at most weddings, almost always accompanied by clapping and cheering.
“The Old Wall Made of Stone”
There’s a stone wall by the roadside,
And it’s long and it’s high and it’s old.
It’s been standing for many a century,
And it’s stood in the heat and the cold.
It’s older than me and my family,
It’s older than the house and the barn
It’s older than the ships that we boarded
And it’s marked by two tall cairns.And it’s getting higher and higher, o,
Day by day by day,
It’s the old wall made of stone,
And it’s as sturdy as it is gray.It came from the time before our time,
When the world was alive and well.
They broke their backs to break the land,
And the stone was stacked where they fell.And the stone was stacked where they broke their backs
Oh, the old wall made of stone!It weathered all the elements
While our people were away.
And the mud and the grass grew up in its cracks,
But the stone wall there did stay! (Hey!)And the mud and the grass grew up in its cracks
In the stone which was stacked where they broke their backs
Oh, the old wall made of stone!As we sailed the sea to come back to her,
We saw she still stood strong,
So we brushed off the top and we polished her rocks,
And set it with new prongs.And we set the new prongs in the top all along
In the mud and the grass that grew up in the cracks
In the stone which was stacked where they broke their backs
Oh, the old wall made of stone!And for generations we worked and worked
To reclaim the land of our kin,
And all awhile we kept to ourselves,
And we built it up again.And we kept to ourselves as we grew its shelves,
On the prongs that were set on the top all along,
In the mud and the grass that grew up in the cracks,
In the stone which was stacked where they broke their backs,
Oh, the old wall made of stone!And even in the fights we fought,
In the fields and the roads and the floods,
We put in all we had to keep it up,
Our strength and our sweat and our blood.And we put in all that was good, our sweat, our blood,
And we kept to ourselves as we built its shelves,
On the prongs that were set on the top all along,
In the mud and the grass that grew up in the cracks,
In the stone which was stacked where they broke their backs,
Oh, the old wall made of stone!Now we’re standing here beside the wall,
And it’s such a sight to see,
But now we can’t see the world outside of it,
The wall has blocked its sight from me!And our sight is blocked by the wall we locked,
Where we put in all was good, our sweat, our blood,
As we kept to ourselves as we built its shelves,
On the prongs that were set on the top all along,
In the mud and the grass that grew up in the cracks,
In the stone which was stacked where they broke their backs,
Oh, the old wall made of stone!Now we’re breaking down the prison walls
Which houses all our stress and fear,
For the world may be full of scary things
But none are like what’s trapped in here…So we’re breaking all our prison walls,
Saibhrean ‘Drinking’ Song
So our sight isn’t blocked by the wall we locked,
Where we put in all that was good, our sweat, our blood,
As we kept to ourselves as we built its shelves,
On the prongs that were set on the top all along,
In the mud and the grass that grew up in the cracks,
In the stone which was stacked where they broke their backs,
Oh, the old wall made of stone!
Oh, the old wall made of stone!
