Karine Polwart 2009
Polwart was at a Shetland Folk Festival singing at an outlying island event, and as she was being taken home by sea, in the early morning, a heron rose in front of the boat and flew ahead. In the song the heron represents the return of Spring, light after darkness, hope after grief.
Karine Polwart: https://karinepolwart.bandcamp.com/track/follow-the-heron
Bellwether: https://bellwetherfolk.bandcamp.com/track/follow-the-heron
The back of the winter is broken
And light lingers long by the door
And the seeds of the summer have spoken
In gowans that bloom on the shore
Chorus:
By night and day we’ll sport and we’ll play
And delight as the dawn dances over the bay
Sleep blows the breath of the morning away
And we follow the heron home
In darkness we cradled our sorrow
And stoked all our fires with fear
Now these bones that lie empty and hollow
Are ready for gladness to cheer
So long may we sing of the salmon
And the snow-scented sounds of your home
While the north wind delivers its sermon
Of ice and salt water and stone