Roots Run Deep

To the tune of Hal-an-Tow (traditional, Helston)

Let us sing and call the spring
Returning from its wandering;
The Tree shall thrive, the year turns,
The sun returns and burns.

Roots run deep; all awake from sleep!
We begin songs to call you in;
We offer you the May Queen,
So teach her what has been...
The dark is gone, the dream goes on,
The fire that you've foreseen.

Let us bring an offering,
Rejoicing at your flourishing,
Who planted you to grow anew?
We celebrate them too!

Roots run deep; all awake from sleep!
We begin songs to call you in;
We offer you the May Queen,
So teach her what has been...
The dark is gone, the dream goes on,
The fire that you've foreseen.

Let us fling around the ring
Presenting song and wondering
On how all burns but you endure,
For aeons yet obscure.

Roots run deep; all awake from sleep!
We begin songs to call you in;
We offer you the May Queen,
So teach her what has been...
The dark is gone, the dream goes on,
The fire that you've foreseen.

This One Night (All Around the Tree)

After the Lyke Wake Dirge (traditional)

This one night, this one night,
All around the Tree
Fire and might and lantern-light,
We will receive your dreams

When from hence away you pass,
All around the Tree
In tangling roots you’ll rest at last,
We will receive your dreams

Of your stories you have told,
All around the Tree
Roots run deep and in their folds
We will receive your dreams

Past the roots your path is wound,
All around the Tree
In the clearing she was bound,
We will receive your dreams

Where fire once drove the witch away,
All around the Tree
The shadow hides the coming day,
We will receive your dreams

Through raging tempest, wind, and rain,
All around the Tree
The banished one returns again
We will receive your dreams...

The banished one returns again
We will receive your dreams

Drink to the Tree

To a traditional wassail tune

Wassail, wassail all over the grounds
Our toast it is white and our ale is brown
Our cup it is made of the mulberry tree
With the wassailing bowl we’ll drink to the Tree.
Drink to the Tree, drink to the Tree,
With a wassailing bowl we’ll drink to the Tree.

Here’s to the mistress who planted the seed
Who watered and nurtured and saw to its needs
The mistress who knew the stories to find
Roots, branches and leaves that grew all entwined
Drink to the Tree, drink to the Tree,
With a wassailing bowl we’ll drink to the Tree.

Here’s to the revels the Steward does hold
That bring us all singing here out in the cold
The old year must die, for new growth to leap
And down in the dark, the Tree’s roots run deep
Drink to the Tree, drink to the Tree,
With a wassailing bowl we’ll drink to the Tree.

So dreamers, and steward, and revellers and bride
And everyone who in Treowen resides
Raise your cups high, and voices with me
As the year now does end we drink to the Tree
Drink to the Tree, drink to the Tree,
With a wassailing bowl we’ll drink to the Tree.

To Know What Leaves May Grow

To the tune of the November Drinking Song

The year is dying
We come here trying
To play the roles of long ago
We stand here pleading,
We stand here needing
To know what leaves may grow.

To know, to know
To know what leaves may grow, may grow.
We stand here pleading,
We stand here needing
To know what leaves may grow.

Tonight we have revelled,
Tonight you've levelled
The gates of Dream for friend and foe,
And while you're feeding
We stand here bleeding
To know what leaves may grow.

To know, to know
To know what leaves may grow, may grow.
We stand here pleading,
We stand here needing
To know what leaves may grow.

Next year you will flourish
Our tales will nourish
Your roots and leaves with what we owe;
With your succeeding
We'll soon be reading
To know what leaves may grow.

To know, to know
To know what leaves may grow, may grow.
We stand here pleading,
We stand here needing
To know what leaves may grow.

The ages will perish,
But still we'll cherish
The ancient wisdom that you know,
For by your leading
We are proceeding
To know what leaves may grow.

To know, to know
To know what leaves may grow, may grow.
We stand here pleading,
We stand here needing
To know what leaves may grow.