The Marsh Haven Ghost
Lyrics and melody by Cat Faber, 2019

“Beware, oh take care,” cries the rook from her perch,
When the daylight is dying in silence and chill,
Don’t go on foot by St Winifred’s Church,
Out past the blackthorns on Badderlock Hill.

(chorus)
When they search for the missing in pity and fear
And the marsh and the coast they have quartered in vain
They come to the pool with the saint standing near
For the Marsh Haven ghost is both slayer and slain

If you find yourself near, hurry by on the street
Lest a shuddering light in the windows be pinned
Don’t look at the church, or the pool at its feet--
If the music begins you must run like the wind.

Chorus

In the daylight the waters don’t rise to your knee
Without wetting your skirt through the pool you can tread
In the dark, when the music has made you unfree
Before you draw breath you’ll be over your head.

(bridge)
Looking down from the wall where the spring waters fall,
The saint in her wisdom is deaf to your cries.
As you are pulled down, your pleas as you drown
Wake no compassion behind her stone eyes.

The melody’s price is another soul bound.
The water is sweet, it’s refreshing and cold,
But sunrise will shine on a child who has drowned
And a new ghost is risen in place of the old.

Chorus

“Beware, oh take care,” cries the rook from her perch
When the daylight is dying in silence and chill
Don’t go on foot by St Winifred’s Church
Out past the blackthorns on Badderlock Hill.