[ Featuring The Mattes ]
Fill your glass and sit you down
I'll tell you of Northumberland
Of open skies and moorland free
From Pennines sloping to the sea
The land was fair and beautiful
The earth was rich and bountiful
The clansfolk tended to the soil
And so did feed their families well
But the hungry sea was minded
With the wind and moon behind
To breach the shore to take its fill
Til the clansfolk built a wall
So the moon and wind conspired
To raise a sea of highest tide
To rush inland and flood the fields
And kill the crops before their yield
The clansmen saw the full moon rise
And felt the wind strong from the east
They turned their faces to the hills
Called on the gods who dwelt there still
The gods of peat and bog did stir
And conjured by the clansmen's prayers
They gathered storms from out the west
With rain and thunder to contest
The spirits gouged a valley broad
From Alston and from Allenheads
And northward to the border far
From Kielder Head and Carter Bar
They bade the storms unleash their power
Let loose a torrent fit for war
So to create two rivers fierce
The Tynes of North and South appeared
The gods looked on and did decree
These Tynes shall join at Watersmeet
And rushing straight across the land
To Wylam there to make a stand
The mighty Tyne hit with a force
That drove the sea back in its course
So strong the waters struck the foe
The fearsome sea fell at the blow
In victory, the gods declared
Three Tynes forever are your guards
From North and South the waters join
To hold the sea back with the Tyne
And from the day the rivers flowed
The clansfolk lived in fear no more
They raise their glasses to commend
The Three Tynes of Northumberland
