LISA RELANDER
Down beside the castle walls,
where towers rise from the lake shore
there within the castle halls, her story's often told.
Courted by a soldier boy,
they say he came o'er the border.
She bore him a daughter for their love and joy
and no marriage bed was laid.
Lisa Relander was her name,
a fair young maid of eighteen summers.
Before judge and judgement she came,
her newborn babe in arms.
To be a mother and unwedded was her crime,
and death was the sentence.
Doomed in stone walls laying
when mothers milk runs dry
Chorus: And now the stones answer her cry
from the wall where she lays.
And lake wind whispers her song
and her ghost will walk the shore all night long
Up then spoke the captain of the guard
for his heart was lost to this maiden
"If I offer Lisa my hand,
will mercy then be shown"
But kind words are lost in cruel ears
and a cruel hand showed no mercy.
Her sentence pass, she shed a bitter tear
for laws of righteous men.
Chorus
Lisa lingered in her cell,
for nine long months and better.
Then one morning she heard the requiem bell
and left her sleeping child.
Oh, who will raise this babe of mine
and will she know of my story.
Will she find the place where I am lying,
and will she know her name.
Chorus
In the walls now all the words are seen,
to mark where Lisa's sleeping.
From her heart there grew a rowan tree,
with berries red as blood.
