From the Hand of St. James

From a miracle witnessed above Galilee
To the shores of Iberia stolen from sea
To the watery alleys of traders and thieves
As a gift between bishop and emperor Holy
Prize of a foreign queen sent home again
Clock in a silver glove swept up the Thames
To the worship of thousands, benevolent fame
To the memory of England, the Hand of St. James

Captured by Herod and put to the sword
His followers willed up their word to the Lord
They sailed to the banks of the bay of Biscay
Wherein far away peace St. James' body was laid

My sinews grew thin and I loosed from the bone
Of the body for six hundred years I'd called home
A Suebian tomb raider pried me a part
And since I've been lost to my meadow of stars

The centuries flowed by like the watery ways
That wind ever slowly through Venice's maze
It's there that I waited in desolate sleep
Till another escorted me northward to keep

And what am I here for to ornate the hall
Of a sooty dark castle encircled by walls?
But hope come one night from a woman of worth
Who spirits me west to a small island berth

Preferred by a lion through chivalry tame
I found myself placed on the altar of fame
While wayfarers walked the high road to St. James
The islanders brought me their sick and their lame
(Eu son a man esquerda...)

Now people come visit from far and from near
Though I've been severed for five hundred years
And I'm in my prime but I know from the past
That a moment of might holds no power to last

From a miracle witnessed above Galilee
To the shores of Iberia stolen from sea
To the watery alleys of traders and thieves
As a gift between bishop and emperor Holy
Prize of a foreign queen sent home again
Clock in a silver glove swept up the Thames
To the worship of thousands, benevolent fame
To the memory of England, the Hand of St. James