ADD: The Return (Archie Fisher)

Subject: Lyrics to 'The Return'
From: GUEST,Erlend Gjerde
Date: 11 Oct 03 - 06:24 AM

I've got a CD called "Burger after church" with The Waybacks, a bluegrass/newgrass band. On this CD they sing a wonderfull Irish song which according to the cover is called "The Return". Not having english as a mother tongue I find it difficult to transcribe the lyrics from the CD, so I wonder if anyone could help me.

I've searched the net, but all I found was songs that contained the word "return" in the title, not the one I'm looking for. It's a quite long song, it lasts more than 7 minutes. Here's my e-mail address:
[e-mail]

Subject: RE: Lyrics to 'The Return'
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 11 Oct 03 - 08:01 AM

The song - which I haven't heard - is evidently by Archie Fisher, who's a Scot. Great singer and great songwriter.

Maybe someone else can hunt up the words.

Subject: RE: Lyrics to 'The Return'
From: Sorcha
Date: 11 Oct 03 - 10:28 AM

I found the CD and reviews but no lyrics. Sorry.

Subject: RE: Lyrics to 'The Return'
From: Joe Offer
Date: 11 Oct 03 - 04:21 PM

Hmmm. This sounds interesting. From what I read on this page (click), the song is an eight-minute sequel to "The Witch of the Westmereland." The page says the Waybacks album is the debut of "the Return," so could it be that Archie didn't record it?
I gotta hear this song.
-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: Lyrics to 'The Return'
From: GUEST,Gargoyle
Date: 11 Oct 03 - 04:26 PM

Might I suggest buying the CD, Mr Offer?

Subject: RE: Lyrics to 'The Return'
From: Joe Offer
Date: 11 Oct 03 - 06:07 PM

No, Gargoyle, I want it from Archie Fisher, not the Waybacks...

And why is it that a person has to buy a $15 CD to hear one song once? I buy lots of CD's and do my part to support musicians, but the one Archie Fisher song is the only one on Burger After Church that interests me at all. I own two CD's from Archie Fisher and one from his sister Ray, so I think I have made a significant contribution to the Fisher family. There ought to be a way for me to listen to the song at least once (or at least see the lyrics), without paying another $15.


-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: Lyrics to 'The Return'
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 12 Oct 03 - 03:11 PM

Herre's a link to the words of the Witch of the Westmerland

Subject: RE: Lyrics to 'The Return'
From: GUEST,Morgaine
Date: 28 Nov 04 - 12:36 PM

For those lucky enough to have attended the 2001 Stan Rogers Folk Festival in Canso, Nova Scotia (Canada), they would have heard Archie sing the premier performance, I believe, of The Return. Also at the 2001 Stanfest were the Waybacks who perfomed their version of Witch of the Westmereland and probably how they have came to record The Return.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Return (Archie Fisher)
From: maeve
Date: 01 Nov 07 - 07:45 AM

Archie has not recorded The Return as of Nov.1, 2007. I asked him. When he does record it, I'll be glad to post the information here. In the meantime, perhaps someone with the version recorded by The Waybacks could transcribe the lyrics.

maeve

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Return (Archie Fisher)
From: Peace
Date: 01 Nov 07 - 09:43 AM

Does anyone have ANY words from A Fisher's song?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Return (Archie Fisher)
From: Peace
Date: 01 Nov 07 - 10:13 AM

One site that was a 'maybe' has posted that "The artist has refused to disclose the lyrics".

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Return (Archie Fisher)
From: maeve
Date: 01 Nov 07 - 10:42 AM

Peace-
Understandably, he would want to release lyrics after he records the song. I'll confirm that, but for myself, I expect to simply wait until he records and releases it himself. It's always worth the wait. There is a new album on the way, but The Return is not on it.

Regards,

maeve

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Return (Archie Fisher)
From: Peace
Date: 01 Nov 07 - 10:49 AM

Thanks, Maeve.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Return (Archie Fisher)
From: maeve
Date: 01 Nov 07 - 12:36 PM

You're most welcome, Peace.
maeve

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Return (Archie Fisher)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 02 Nov 07 - 08:23 PM

Amazon.com has a sound sample on this page.

…of the dapple gray,
The man and horse to the westward face
On the eve of an All-Saints day.

And low 'neath the long green grassy mound
Lie the bones of his noble steed.
Gone to their graves are…

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Return (Archie Fisher)
From: peregrina
Date: 08 Apr 09 - 04:27 PM

The Waybacks track of The Return from the CD Burger After Church
can be bought from itunes; several sites tell how Fisher gave them the lyrics after hearing them do Witch of the Westmerlands. I won't post the words out of respect for the considerations mentioned above, but I'll just say... wonderful song, wonderful performance, more than seven minutes of this amazingness for only 79 cents.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Return (Archie Fisher)
From: maeve
Date: 08 Apr 09 - 05:20 PM

Thank you for resisting the understandable urge to post the lyrics, peregrina.

maeve

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Return (Archie Fisher)
From: peregrina
Date: 08 Apr 09 - 05:26 PM

Hi Maeve,
writing out the words? easy to resist actually, for me anyway--I'm not going to try to sing that one, and I found that when I wrote out all the words of Archie's no less amazing and magical song 'Fiddle Farewell' it took away some of the spell.--But if you know Archie, please urge him to get that next CD on its way!!!
mary

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Return (Archie Fisher)
From: maeve
Date: 08 Apr 09 - 08:53 PM

It's underway. The magic will continue.

maeve

Subject: ADD: The Return (Archie Fisher)
From: GUEST,Zach Weinersmith
Date: 13 Dec 20 - 10:48 AM

I did my best to transcribe the lyrics from The Waybacks' rendition. Here it is to the best of my ability, with notes. Hopefully he records it at some point:

The Return
(Archie Fisher)

1
Long was the hour for the valiant knight
That would ne’er be sick or slain.
Lonely the bower in the candlelight
With neither kith nor kin.

2
Stormclouds over the full moon raced
As we swung to the dapple grey.
And man and horse to the westward faced
On the eve of an All-Saints Day.

3
And lo, ‘neath the long green grassy mound
Lie the bones of his noble steed.
Gone to their graves are his brindled hounds,
That were never matched for speed.

4
Freed to the wind were his grey hawk’s wings,
Never to be seen again.
Lost were the songs that the young men sing
As they ride o’er the plain.

5
The rowan shield burned[1] on his breast
As the old man rode again.
Over the rocky kirkstan crest
In the howling wind and rain.

6
Weary the step of his garron’s stride
As they slowly wended down
To the banks of the winding waterside
All under a paley moon

7
Cold was the crack of the raven’s cry
That echoed from the fell.
Fierce were the flames of the morning sky
As the burning gates of Hell.

8
Over his breast on the mantle white
The rowan shield burned red.
And, there in the rays of the dawning light,
The berries [2] burst and bled.

9
“Oh, where is your hawk and your brindled hounds?”
Came the screeching houlet’s [3] call.
“Gone to the dank and the wormy ground,
That will ay [4] consume us all.

10
Where is the maid of the jet black mare
who held me fast in sleep?”
“Under the long dark winding mere,
She rests in the watery deep.”

11
He’s laid his hand on his hunting horn
And, with his dying breath,
Has blown a blast to the blazing morn
That would route the Angel of Death.

12
High in the cusp of the starry night
He heard his grey hawk mew. [5]
As out of the mist came morning light,
His ghostly grey hounds flew.

13
He has gathered a snatch of the goldenrod
All withered in the wood
And scattered it over the water’s brim
Where his ghostly greyhounds [6] stood.

14
Flecked was the coat of the lithe black mare
That rose from the watery deep.
White were the locks of the maiden’s hair,
And her brown eyes heavy with sleep.

15
“Waily, waily my noble lord,
Who wakes me from my rest.
There’s none can heal the wounds of time
That lie bloody on your breast.

16
Climb from your silvered saddle down
And swing to my back astride.
Gather your hawk and your brindled hounds
And together we will ride.”

17
His saddlecloth was the velvet blue
Trimmed round with a silver chain.
He’s kissed her pale lips aince [7] and twice,
Aye, and three times round again.

18
And over the lake with his hounds at heel
And his good grey hawk in hand,
Rode the knight of the blood-red rowan shield
And the witch of the West-mer-land. [8]



[1] The probable word here is “burned” but there is a Scots dialect word “birn” meaning “burden.” It’s possible Fischer, who often uses archaic Scots, is using the latter, or perhaps he’s being cute with the double meaning. I left “burned” because it makes sense in stanza 8.

[2] I think the sense here is the red berry of the rowan tree, maybe with a second sense of his old wounds reopening.

[3] The Waybacks use “owlet,” but the origin from the 1976 song is “houlet,” so I kept it.

[4] I believe this is the archaic “ay” meaning everlasting, though it could simply be “aye” as in “yes, indeed.”

[5] Do hawks mew? I’m not sure. Possibly it’s “his grey hawk new,” but that doesn’t quite make sense since the grey hawk, having just been brought back from the dead, would be “his grey hawk old.” There is another sense of “mew” to mean “to molt” which is a thing hawks do. But, in context, that’s a little… unromantic? You can also put a hawk in its “mews” but that makes even less sense. My guess is that “mew” is a weird usage, needed to rhyme “flew.” But then, why didn’t he just have the hawk cry and the dogs fly?

[6] This could just be “grey hounds,” but to my knowledge the “brindle” pattern isn’t exactly grey, so I suspect this is identifying the breed of his brindled hounds, not noting their color.

[7] The Waybacks say “once,” but the original poem uses the old Scots “aince,” which I’ve kept here.

[8] I doubt it was the poet’s intention, but this closing strongly reminds me of the end of Poe’s “Eldorado,” which goes:

‘Over the Mountains of the Moon,
Down the Valley of the Shadow,
Ride boldly ride,’ the shade replied-
‘If you seek for Eldorado!’

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-v3q5nJV6UQ

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Return (Archie Fisher)
From: GUEST,spinnerofyarns
Date: 11 Feb 21 - 10:22 AM

In a couple of places around the internet, I've seen mention of a supposed prequel to "The Witch of the West-mer-lands."

If this thread is still at all active, does anyone know if this is prequel is indeed extant, and if one can listen to it anywhere?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Return (Archie Fisher)
From: GUEST,Surreysingersans cookie
Date: 13 Apr 24 - 09:25 PM

Rather late to the party, but the song was recorded by Amy and Gavin Davenport on their CD "A Boat of Dreams" in 2019 after Archie sent them the song and gave them permission to record it after a discussion with Amy at Whitby Folk Week about Witch of the Westmoreland.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Return (Archie Fisher)
From: FreddyHeadey
Date: 28 Nov 25 - 07:42 AM

^Here's Amy Davenport telling the story about meeting AF at Whitby - on the Anna Massie AF tribute programme

www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m002mbqp
> ~1:06:10 but only available to mid December 2025
so here's a quick transcription from my android tablet +some line breaks

   ,,,I first met Archie Fisher in 2018 at Whitby Folk Festival
so me and Gavin had an hour off and we'd gone into a singaround in the Rifle Club
anyway halfway through sort of mid song the door opened and in crashed this smart older chap bashing his guitar case on chairs
anyway there was lots of tutting and eye rolling and he sat down in the only chair which was available which just happened to be next to me
somebody whispered "It's Archie Fisher" and he was actually supposed to be headlining the concert upstairs and had just come into the wrong room
anyway with fabulous grace of course he stayed and he took his turn at the singaround
so we had to leave early and as I stood up I just whispered to him "just wanted to say how much I love your music and love The Witch" and he put his hand on my arm and I will never forget - his hand on my arm and he said "I've written a sequel you know"
so we kept in touch and corresponded back and to and over the next few months we we worked on The Return which is the the sequel but also he sent me the prequel that was still being drafted and he never came up with a name for the prequel but he said and I was very moved by this that I was the only person that he could think of that would be able to help him with it because I knew all of the other parts of the story and that was a very lovely thing to be told I was a bit starstruck
but the end of The Witch the line is
there's none can harm the night who has lain with the witch of the Westmorland
and The Return begins
long is the hour for the valiant night who can ne'er be sick nor slain
and so the story of the return is of an old man going back to find the witch and to finish their story together.
& singing The Return.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Return (Archie Fisher)
From: Reinhard
Date: 28 Nov 25 - 08:01 AM

This is also on Thank Goodness It's Folk programme from 7 November with guests Anna Massie and Amy Davenport, Archie Fisher remembered, and will probably stay there far longer than mid December.