Stones



"Stones" is the most prevalent and well-known song of the entire Ultima series.

It is quite popular in Britannia and also the favourite of Lord British. Iolo FitzOwen, a good friend of the king, composed the music; his wife Gwenno wrote the lyrics.

In reality, the song was written by David R. Watson and Kathleen Jones, the real-life counterparts of the characters. It appeared in Ultima V, Ultima VI, Ultima VII, Ultima VII Part Two, and Ultima IX. Outside the core series, it also made appearances in Runes of Virtue and Ultima Online. In each of the versions subsequent to and including Ultima VII, the final verse of the original composition was omitted.

Ultima IX also provided two unconventional adaptions of "Stones": a contemporary rock version arranged and performed on electric guitar by Raph "Designer Dragon" Koster that can be heard on the Avatar's radio on Earth, and an electronica version co-written by lead designer Seth Mendelson that accompanies the ending credits of the game. The latter became infamous for its poor reception by many Ultima fans.

Two other variations were written for the cancelled Ultima Online 2: a traditional one that reprises George Oldziey's Ultima IX arrangement, and an industrial version by Curse Mackey meant to illustrate the environment of the steampunk Juuka homeland. These were later reused for the Ultima Online expansion, Lord Blackthorn's Revenge.

In addition, multiple renditions of "Stones" can be heard in the fan remake projects Ultima V: Lazarus and The Ultima VI Project.

"Stones" played a pivotal role in Ultima V, where it was required to be physically performed on Lord British's harpsichord to reveal the Sandalwood Box. In Ultima VI, it had to be played on a set of custom panpipes to acquire the Rune of Sacrifice and in Ultima IX, a repeat performance on the royal harpsichord was needed in order to find an ankh.

Listen to the Ultima VII iteration of the song in its original MIDI form here: (click on file name on page to start music).

A higher-quality version of the song from Ultima VI can be found here.

Lyrics
Long ago ran the sun on a folk who had a dream And the heart and the will and the power: They moved earth; they carved stone; moulded hill and channeled stream That we might stand on the wide plains of Wiltshire.

Now men asked who they were, how they built and wonder why That they wrought standing stones of such size. What was done 'neath our shade? What was pray'ed 'neath our skies As we stood on the wyrd plains of Wiltshire.

Oh what secrets we could tell if you'd listen and be still. Rid the stink and the noise from our skirts. But you haven't got the clue and perhaps you never will. Mute we stand on the cold plains of Wiltshire.

Still we loom in the mists as the ages roll away And we say of our folk, "they are here!" That they built us and they died and you'll not be knowing why Save we stand on the bare plains of Wiltshire.