Sung by Basil Stag Hare, Ambrose Spike and Rollo (p.44)
“O if I feel sick or pale,
What makes my old eyes shine?
Some good October ale
And sweet blackcurrant wine.
I’d kill a dragon for half a flagon,
I’d wrestle a stoat to wet my throat,
I’d strangle a snake, all for the sake
Of lovely nutbrown beer...
Nuhuhuhut broooowwwwwnnnnn beeeeheeeyer!”
“I strangle a snake an’ wet his throat,
I wrestle a dragon an’ steal his coat-”
“I wallop a snake wiv a old rock cake-”
(p. 57)
“Fight a flagon an’ drink a dragon,
Gizzard a lizard an’ split his blizzard,
Ride a spider for good ol’ cider,
gooooood oooooold ciderrrrrrr!”
(p. 58)
“I’d roll a mole an’ squeeze a sparrow,
Or shoot a rat wiv a big sharp arrow,
For good ol’ bla-ha-ha-hack currant wiiiiiiine!”
**********
Chanted by Nadaz (p. 53)
“Malkariss, Ruler of the pit,
Lord of the deep and dark,
I am Nadaz, the Voice of the Host
To which your servents hark.
Hear me, O Ruler of eternal night,
Whose eyes see all we do,
King of the void beneath the earth,
We bring our pleas to you.”
**********
Sung by mice (p. 58)
“To table, to table and eat what you may,
Come brothers, come sisters, come all.
Be happy, be joyful, upon our feast day,
Eight seasons of peace in Redwall.
So sing from dusk to dawn
And let the Abbey bells ring.
The sun will bring the morn,
And still we will merrily sing.”
**********
The Fish Prayer (p. 60-61)
“Fur and whisker, tooth and claw,
All who enter by our door.
Nuts and herbs, leaves and fruits,
Berries, tubers, plants and roots,
Silver fish whose life we take
Only for a meal to make.”
Archivist’s note: You can also find these same words in Redwall. I put them under “Grace” in that section.
**********
Sung by Skinpaw (p.63)
“Lalalalalalala, we travel from afar,
Derrydown dill, over vale and hill.
We camp beneath the stars.
Lalalalalalala, good fortune to you sir.
The strolling players bring to you
Magic from everywhere...”
Chanted by Slagar (p. 69)
“See the stars, see the moon,
Penned around by blackest night.
See the diamonds red and purple,
Silk and fire and blood and light.
See them turning, ever turning,
Like a great mandala wheel,
Spinning as the fire is burning.
What is false and what is real...?”
**********
Funeral Prayer (p. 86)
“Suns that set a seasons turn,
Flowers grow and wither yet.
Who can say what flame may burn,
Friends that we have known and met.
Look into the young ones’ eyes,
See the winter turn to spring,
Across the quiet eternal lake,
Ripples spreading in a ring.”
**********
Chanted by Scurl (p. 114)
“Sillybeast, sillybeast, trusting me.
Made you think I had a key.
Stupid you, clever me,
Scurl has pretty gifts for free.”
**********
Sung by Rollo (p. 131)
“Seeker Flounder inner stones,
I catch a rat an’ break his bones,
Give Mr. Spike a good hard strike,
For good ol’ strawhawhaw beherreeee corjullllll!”
**********
Read by John (p.158)
“Through the seasons, here I lie,
‘Neath this Redwall that we made.
Solve the mystery, you must try,
Graven deep it will not fade.
Somewhere ‘twixt our earth and sky,
Birds and entle breezes roam.
There a key you might espy,
To that place I once called home.
Take this graven page and seek
What my words in stone could mean
What can’t fly yet has a beak,
Mixed up letters evergreen.
Two Bees, two Ohs
One Sea, one tap,
And weary without A.
Leave me now to my long rest,
Good fortune on your way.”
**********
Sung by Rollo (p. 207)
“I wrestle a fish upon a dish,
Cut off his ‘ead while he’s in bed,
An’ take a rat an’ make him dead,
For goooooood ooooooold cideeeeeeerrrrrrr!”
**********
Sung by Sir Harry (p. 220)
“Why, pray do you suppose?
I’m a master of poetry and prose,
No equal have I in field or wood,
No creature a smidgeon, a fraction as good.
And if you need a poet, why, here’s one to choose.
This Owl...Sir Harry the Muse.”
“Then tell me what you need.
Someone to preform a deed?
A mummer perhaps, or a singer of songs?
A champion, a righter of wrongs?
A companion, maybe, to stand at your side?
For my talents are varied and wide.”
Sung by Matthias (p. 221)
“Business for goodness sake,
Perhaps we can find some cake.
Maybe, my friend, we will bring to you
A shrewcake baked by a shrew.”
Sung by Sir Harry (p. 221)
“Not bad, not bad at all.
At least it made me smile.
For a Warrior, I’d say quite good,
You have a certain style.”
Sung by Basil (p. 221)
“I beg you listen to me,
I’m a fellow spirit, you see.
I was once considered a champion poet.
I just thought you’d like to know it...”
Sung by Sir Harry (p. 221)
“I beg, I implore you, sir,
Stick to being a hare!”
(p. 223)
“Our business is concluded,
You’ve paid me what I’m due.
The journey ahead is perilous,
Good fortune go with you.”
“Those that venture upward,
Are only the brave and insane.
Though I hate to predict,
From the path that you’ve picked,
I doubt that we’ll meet again.”
Read by Matthias (p. 272)
“Those who wish to challenge fate,
To a jumbled shout walk straight.
Sunset fires in dextree,
Find where Loamhedge used to be.
At the high place near the skies,
Look for other watchful eyes.
Sleep not ‘neath the darkpine trees,
Be on guard, take not your ease,
Voyage when the daylight dims,
Danger in the water swims.
Make no noise with spear or sword,
Lest you wake the longtail horde.
Shades of creatures who have died,
Bones of warriors who once tried.
Shrink not from the barren land,
Look below from where you stand,
This is where a ston may fall, and make no sound at all.
Those who cross and live to tell,
See the badger and the bell,
Face the lord who points the way
After noon on summer’s day.
Death will open up its grave.
Who goes there...? None but the brave.”
**********
Said by Sir Harry (p. 288)
“Pray accept my apologies, sir,
My conscience was bothering me,
So I had to take to the air.
And now I am back, as you see.”
“I’d soones fly ‘neath the moon.
I dread the hot afternoon,
The heat’s infernal and owls are nocturnal.
I hope the sun sets soon.”
(p. 289)
“I’d call that a very smart guess.
In fact, you’ve called my bluff.
My reason, I must confess,
Is not for food and stuff.
I get tired of being alone,
Can I come along with you?
I’ve heard you talk of your home,
Could I live at Redwall too?”
“I knew you’d see things my way.
It’s settled then, it’s done.
And if food goes missing Ill say,
‘Blame me, sir, I’m the one.’ ”
(p. 298)
“The work of a moment, dear sir,
To a useful fellow like me.
I’ll chance a flight down there.
We’ll see what we shall see.”
“This is your lucky day.
I’ll tell you what I found
As I was winging my way
Far below the ground.
The bridge cast over the edge,
Complete with slats and all,
Hangs from a rocky shelf
Which juts from the canyon wall.”
(p. 299)
“What need of a blade have I?
Nor sword or knife do I seek.
I am monarch of the sky,
With fearsome talon and beak!”
**********
(p. 313)
“Dead words do not alarm me
When food is on its way.
No parchment threat can harm me,
Lead on, lead on, I say.”
**********
Sung by Rollo (p. 343)
“Kill a bird wivout a word,
Hit a black rook wiv a heavy book,
Bang a crow an’ make him go...”
**********
Said by Sir Harry (p. 355)
“There’s nothing affects a craven
Like the thought of sudden death,
The idea he might not see the night
Or draw another breath.”
“As you wish, as you wish, Matthias.
We each have a role to be filled.
I’ll take these weasels south for a bit,
But the first one to cry gets killed!”
**********
Sung by Rollo (p. 418)
“Chop up a rook’n make a soup,
Send him to bed wivout any bread,
Dip his tail in ‘tober ale,
An’ good lo’ magpie pie!”
**********
Said by Sir Harry (p. 429)
“A taker of slaves and a thief,
I know not what master he served,
Cruel Slagar has come to grief,
‘Twas all that he deserved.”
“Yes, it’s old Sir Harry the Muse.
I see you won victory,
So I flew back to bring you the news.
Just guess what happened to me.
I chased those vermin south,
I think they’re running yet.
When I heard a great noise from afar,
So I said to myself ‘I’ll bet
That’s my friends doing battle beneath the ground!’
Then I turned on my wings and flew to see
How a mouse could make such a big sound!”
**********
Said by Sir Harry to the Sparrows (p. 441)
“Now listen and mark my words
As I eat this delicious cheese.
You’re really quite lucky birds,
To live in surroundings like these,
Woodland nutcrunch, gooseberry pie,
Honeybaked apples too.
Bilberry pudding, my, oh my,
Just swallow, don’t bother to chew.”