Jaxom was born in the spring of '44
And never saw his father anymore
A child of old Gemma, a child of Fax
Another son who never had a father after Ruatha
Went off to Fort and learned to serve the Hold
Followed the rules and drank his Benden straight
The only way to live was to drown the hate
A Ruathan life was very sad
And such was life in the Ninth Pass
I was born in '49
A Ninth Pass kid in old F'lar's time
Stop 'em at the highest altitude
Blast those Thread spores right to soot
And Ninth Pass kids were hard to kill
Stuck in a Hold in a Threadfall drill
Haven't they heard we stopped the 'Star
Why do they keep on flying far?
Jaxom was sent to some Mastersmithhall
Served out his time, became a rider tall
The greatest happiness he'd ever found
Was making Ruathan children glad
And children lived in the Ninth Pass
But children lived in Nabol Hold
And hid in the kitchens none were bold
Until the Seacraft turned their ships around
And tore the Oldtimer values down
And in that bright October sun
We knew our childhood days were done
And I watched my friends go off so tall
Why do they keep on flying Fall?
And so my child and I come to this place
To meet him eye to eye and face to face
He made my daughter laugh, then we embraced
We never knew what friends we had
Until we came to Ruatha.