I · Invocation — Track 01
An Sciath aig Ceann Fhithphuill
The Shield of Fitful Head
A Highland ballad rooted in the far North, where wind and cliff shape the souls of those who endure them.
Gàidhlig
[Rann 1] Fo sgàil dhorcha tha ar dùthaich truagh, Thar bhallachan Iarlshof chan eagal dhuinn tuilleadh. Ach anns an loch, tha lùths 'nar n-ionnsaigh, An Dragan Uaine 'na sciath air ar sluagh. [Rann 2] Èiridh e àrd os cionn Ceann Fhithphuill, Sgàileanan sgèimheil a' deàrrsadh san oidhch'. A anail lìonmhor le beairteas air lèana, Sgrìobha sinn cridhe is anam dha gu bràth. [Seist] Air neart na h-Alba cluinn sinn a ghairm! An Dragan Uaine gar dìon o gach nàmhaid! Le lasair is lann, le lòchrain sgèith, Ar sciath 's ar dàn ann an dorchadas cruaidh! [Rann 3] Tha pìoban a' glaodhadh, tha druma a' bualadh, Cuiridh sinn Sasannaich fo sgàineadh is sgàine. E fhèin ar sciath de uaine bheò, Am beathach bu treuna a thàinig riamh rōimh. [Rann 4] Ri tràigh Ninian, lùbaidh sinn glùinean, Ar Rìgh nan seann làithean, ar caraid cinnteach. Ar dòchas, ar neart, ar n-ùghdarras àrd, Dìon sinn a-nis anns an uair dhorcha gharbh! [Seist] Air neart na h-Alba cluinn sinn a ghairm! An Dragan Uaine gar dìon o gach nàmhaid! Le lasair is lann, le lòchrain sgèith, Ar sciath 's ar dàn ann an dorchadas cruaidh!
English
[Verse 1] Under dark shadow lies our poor land. Across the walls of Jarlshof, we fear no more. But in the loch, a power rises toward us. The Green Dragon is a shield over our people. [Verse 2] He rises high above Fitful Head. Beautiful shimmering scales in the night. His breath brings abundance to every meadow. We give him heart and soul forever. [Chorus] By the strength of Alba, we hear his call! The Green Dragon protects us from every foe! With flame and blade, with the torch of his wings, He is our shield and our fate in the harsh darkness! [Verse 3] The pipes cry out, the drums are beating. We shall break the English enemy. He himself is our living green shield, The mightiest beast that ever came before. [Verse 4] At Ninian’s shore, we bend our knees. Our king of old days, our loyal friend. Our hope, our strength, our ancient authority — Defend us now in this dark and violent hour! [Chorus] By the strength of Alba, we hear his call! The Green Dragon protects us from every foe! With flame and blade, with the torch of his wings, He is our shield and our destiny in the harsh dark!
In the cycle
Intro / summary
The opening invocation of the cycle. This is not yet a chant of action, vow, or grief. It is the threshold, the moment in which the Green Dragon is first understood as protection, not as creature, but as presence in wind, cliff, and mist.
What this composition is
This opening piece functions as the ritual threshold of the saga. It introduces the Green Dragon not as a visible being, but as the enduring shield of the clan, felt at Fitful Head where sea, stone, and wind converge. In the internal architecture of the cycle, it stands before the formal chants because it does not bind the clan yet, it gathers attention.
It is the act of entering the world of Dhragaín Uaine.
What it represents
This piece represents protection before speech. Before the march, before the oath, before the keening, there must be recognition: the land is alive, memory is alive, and the clan stands beneath something older than itself.
The Green Dragon here is not an actor. It is the condition under which the clan exists. The listener is not being told a story. The listener is being placed under a shelter of wind, stone, and ancestral awareness.
Ritual frame
- Function
- collective invocation of protection
- Ritual role
- threshold of the cycle
- Place
- Fitful Head
- Element
- wind and cliff-edge mist
- Dominant voice
- male lead with choral expansion
- Atmosphere
- solemn, coastal, watchful
- Cycle position
- C0
Symbolic meaning
At this stage, the Dragon belongs to the earliest mode of manifestation: presence as shelter. The lore describes the Green Dragon as a force of land, tide, memory, and breath, never as a beast in the ordinary sense. Here that force is felt as a shield, an enclosing field of vigilance. The chant does not ask the Dragon to appear. It acknowledges that the clan is already inside its shadow.
Listening note
This piece should be heard as an entrance, not as a climax. Its power comes from restraint. Listen for the sense of standing on exposed ground while feeling held by something larger than fear.
Text note
The text presents the Green Dragon as “our shield through the night”, locating the cycle at Fitful Head and establishing the first sacred relationship between place, voice, and protection. In the Four Songs master file, its role is explicitly described as prologue and protective invocation.
Place in the saga
This is the threshold before formal ritual begins. From here, the cycle moves into movement: the clan does not remain sheltered in silence, it rises and walks.