Ribbons on the Hawthorn | Dark Celtic Appalachian Ballad

In the old countries, a hawthorn standing alone on a hillside belonged to the fairies. No one dared cut one down, for sorrow followed the hand that did. Women walked to these trees to tie strips of cloth on the thorns, each one a wish or a prayer left in the keeping of something older than they were. This is the song of a woman who climbs to the lone hawthorn whenever she can't bear the house below. She ties her ribbon, dreams the life she wants, and walks back down the hill to the man she can't leave. Lyrics: He came home with the whiskey on his tongue And a sorry on his lips before the morning come He held my face so gentle where he'd held it hard before And I hung my coat back up beside the door I walked out past the chapel, past the creek run low To the lone hawthorn where the old wives go I tore a strip of blue from the hem of my dress And tied it on the thorn with all the rest Oh hawthorn, hawthorn, keep what I can't keep A little stone house where a woman can sleep Where the kettle's singing and the door has no lock And nobody's footsteps make my heart stop In the dream he's gentle and his hands are clean He never learned the cruel words, never learned to be mean We've a little girl with my mother's eyes And she's never once heard her mama cry The old folks say you must not cut the hawthorn down For sorrow finds the hand that brings it to the ground And I have never cut him, though his thorns are in my skin I just keep on letting him back in Now the sun's gone red behind the ridge again And my ribbon's fading gray beneath the rain I walk back down the holler to the light he left on And I'll be back up here before the summer's gone Oh hawthorn, hawthorn, keep what I can't keep A little stone house where a woman can sleep Where the kettle's singing and the door has no lock And nobody's footsteps make my heart stop Lyrics and story written by hand, inspired by people I love. Music created with AI tools. If this song is close to your own story, you are not alone. National Domestic Violence Hotline: 1-800-799-7233