Hywel Mortymer

From trouble I came to the top towns
But trouble was all that I found
The people were burning in iron
And the children were all underground

My life had seen privilege and comfort
From a Tregaron mansion I came
But my father had gambled our fortune
my mother took her own life for shame

But my family name brought me danger
For the Mortimer’s scoured the land
As my uncle has sworn on me vengeance
Vowing, “all of my family be damned”

Chorus
So it’s over the hills to the valleys
It’s for a hard life but a true life I’m bound
Braking my back for the masters
May god bless a soul underground

So I hid myself high in the valleys
In the town of Blaenafon I stayed
And I worked with coal and with iron
Til my secret was one day betrayed

My uncle sent spies to the valleys
And assassins to end all my days
But I took on all comers without pity
And left them to die where they lay

But the price of my freedom was heavy
With a wife and a friend lying dead
So through anger and vengeance I plotted
My uncle would die in his bed

Chorus

So to Llanfoist House under darkness
With a pistol held straight at my side
And with the fires of hatred inside me
Into his bedroom I climbed

But as soon as I entered his chamber
I knew that I was not alone
My mother was standing before me
And the hatred inside me had gone

My uncle lay dead on his pillows
And the curse of my family was raised
My mother had saved me from murder
And my new wife and children were safe

Chorus

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