> Folk Music > Songs > The Night Visiting Song
The Night Visiting Song / The Cocks Are Crowing / Adieu Unto All True Lovers
[
Roud 22568
; Master title: Night Visiting Song
; G/D 4:783
; Ballad Index Ord089
; VWML GG/1/16/1014
; DT NITEVIST
; Mudcat 18991
; trad.]
Katherine Campbell: Songs From North-East Scotland John Ord: Bothy Songs and Ballads Frank Purslow: The Wanton Seed Peggy Seeger, Ewan MacColl: The Singing Island Roy Palmer: Folk Songs Collected by Ralph Vaughan Williams Stephen Sedley: The Seeds of Love
Bella Higgins and Andra Stewart sang I Must Away in a recording made by Hamish Henderson in Blairgowrie in 1954. It was released in c.1962 on the Prestige album Folksongs & Music From the Berryfields of Blair.
Ray and Archie Fisher sang The Night Visiting Song on their 1961 Topic EP Far Over the Forth. The tracks from this EP were also included in 1965 on the Topic compilation Bonny Lass Come O’er the Burn. Norman Buchan noted on the first album:
This is a composite version from field-recordings made by Hamish Henderson. There is a whole series of night-visiting songs in Scotland, ranging from the bawdy, such as The Laird o’ Windy Wa’s to the tender. This is a particular good version of the latter. An English version, The Grey Cock, but with a supernatural theme, may be found in The Penguin Book of English Folk Songs.
Thirty years later, Ray Fisher recorded the Night Visiting Song for a second time for her CD Traditional Songs of Scotland.
Alex Campbell sang The Night Visiting Song in 1965 on the B-side of his Transatlantic single Been on the Road So Long. This track was also included in 2004 on the anthology Transatlantic Folk Box Set.
John Pearse sang the Night Visiting Song in 1966 on the album Folk Scene: A Selection of Songs From Britain’s Finest Folk Music Magazine.
John Reilly sang Adieu Unto All True Lovers in a recording made by Tom Munnelly in his own home in Dublin in winter 1967. It was published in 1977 on Reilly’s Topic LP of songs of an Irish Traveller, The Bonny Green Tree, and was included in 1998 on the Topic anthology Who’s That at My Bed Window? (The Voice of the People Volume 10). Tom Munnelly noted on Reilly’s album:
Dr. Hugh Shields suggests that The Grey Cock was in its earliest form a dawn song related to the Alba of the medieval troubadours. In this form it carried no supernatural elements for the hero and heroine of the narrative were entirely human. The subsequent mutation of some versions of the ballad into revenant form came with its acquisition of verses from supernatural ballads, notably Sweet William’s Ghost.
That the returned lover in this version is back from the grave is evident enough but it is also interesting to record that on asking John to explain the ‘burning temples’ referred to in the final verse he said: “I suppose he was a soul from purgatory and he had to return to it.”
Norman Kennedy sang the Night Visiting Song on his 1968 Topic album Scots Songs and Ballads. This track was also added to the 1996 CD reissue of the Topic anthology of traditional songs of love and lust, The Bird in the Bush. Peter Hall noted on Kennedy’s album:
Before the times of Puritanism in Scotland, it seems the country was quite permissive in sexual matters, and the practice of bundling is still remembered in the Orkney Isles. The custom was to allow a courting couple to be bedded together with sacks tied round the waists to prevent complete consummation of their love, although presumably what could be tied could also be untied. The night visiting songs common to the whole of Northern Europe were a celebration of this practice. The crowing of the cock at the end of the song is not usual in this type of song and probably indicates a fusion with The Grey Cock (Child 248) in which the lover is a visitor from beyond the grave and must, like all such spirits, return before the break.
Eddie Butcher sang The Cocks Are Crowing on his 1969 EP Adam in Paradise. Hugh Shields noted:
A young man taps at a girl’s window before daybreak and pleads with her to elope with him, to let him in, or at least to listen to his entreaties. Their dialogue at the window and their parting are full of exquisite poetry which puts this English song among the best of Eddie’s repertory. The so-called ‘night-visit’ songs are supposed to have had their origin in the medieval Provencal albas, and indeed they bear in general the stamp of antiquity. But they do not adhere closely to the conventional situation of the albas, which describe the lamentations of lovers obliged to part at the approach of dawn. In Eddie’s song the man’s love is refused, ostensibly at least because of parental constraint. It exists in many British and American versions, and under numerous titles, the commonest of which is Arise, Arise, You Drowsy Maiden (see Dean-Smith, Guide to English Folk Song Collections). The narrative varies too, one common variant being the double death of the lovers: I have recorded one such version in Co. Wexford (publ. in Ceol III 1968, p. 44) and another was recorded for the BBC in Belfast. But the song seems relatively rare in Ireland; and Eddie’s version of it is quite unique.
Air: A fine 3:2 major melody of English origin, and the one proper to the song. Perhaps it is a version of this melody which is indicated in Gude and Godlie Ballads (1567) as Quho is at my windo?.
Text: Much of it consists of lyrical commonplaces, but it would be difficult to imagine commonplaces more beautifully expressed and combined.
8 iv, 9 iv, fitting, fit: I interpret these words from the context—in both cases one hears fitn, with a more or less syllabic, perhaps intrusive, n.
10 iii, herbs, in two syllables, sounds something like er-mz.
11 i, Killyboyne? Presumably a stretch of water, in chorus: read inkhorn in three syllables (inkhor-n)?
11 ii, in white, that is, ‘made of paper’ (Eddie says).
Brian Dewhurst sang Night Visiting Song in 1977 on his Fellside album Follow That With Your Sea Lions.
Joe Homens and Len Graham sang The Sweet Bann Water on their 1979 Topic album After Dawning. Robin Morton noted:
This is a Co. Antrim ‘night visit’ song and there are no prizes for recognising similarities, in parts, to other songs, eg., The Grey Cock, The False Young Man, Derry Gaol, etc. Joe learnt The Sweet Bann Water in this form some sixty years ago from the singing of his mother.
Fred Jordan sang Night Visiting Song to Ian Russell at Will Noble’s barn, Denby Dale, Yorkshire, in October 1990. This recording was released in 1991 on his EFDSS cassette In Course of Time.
The Voice Squad sang The Cocks Are Crowing on their 1992 album Holly Wood (later reissued as Good People All). Frank Harte noted:
This is one of the many ‘night visiting’ songs that appear in the traditional songs of so many countries. I think it is the best song Eddie Butcher ever sang to me.
They also sang The Night Visiting Song (I Must Away) on their 2014 CD Concerning of Three Young Men where they noted:
This is a song we heard from the singing of the great Luke Kelly.
This is a story of a clandestine meeting of true lovers, which there are many examples of in the singing tradition. There is a wonderful innocence, with no suggestion of seduction in the song. A very popular song collected by Luke while on one of his many trips to Scotland. It is included in a collection of songs (Come Gie’s a Sang), 73 traditional Scottish songs, edited by Sheila Douglas.
Graham Moore sang Night Visiting on his 1995 album Tom Paine’s Bones.
Pete Morton sang Night Visiting on his 1998 Harbourtown album Trespass. He noted:
A song about visiting your girlfriend late at night and then leaving early in the morning, on a horse–as you do.
Steve Tilston sang The Night Visiting Song, with lyrics similar to the Voice Squad’s The Cocks Are Crowing, in 1998 on his Fellside CD Solorubato.
Mick Ryan and Pete Harris sang Night Visiting Song in 1999 on their WildGoose album Hard Season. They noted:
Mick got this lovely song, said by some to be from his native Wiltshire, from Graham Moore.
Ellen Mitchell learned I Must Away, Love from Pete Shepheard. She sang it in 2000 or 2001 on her and her husband Kevin’s Musical Traditions anthology Have a Drop Mair. (The album notes catalogue this as a variant of Child 248, The Grey Cock, but it fits here better.)
Kate Rusby sang Night Visiting Song in 2000 on John McCusker’s Temple album Yella Hoose. This track was also included in 2023 on the anthology The Best of John McCusker. Kate Rusby also sang The Night Visit in 2014 on her CD Ghost.
Jane and Amanda Threlfall sang the Night Visiting Song on their 2000 CD Morning Tempest and on their 2007 CD Revisited. They noted:
One of the less graphic accounts of the nocturnal goings-on which were considered acceptable courtship, this was learned from the singing of Ray Fisher. It’s a song that has permeated throughout all areas of traditional singing, and in many versions, with a consequent vagueness as to its origins.
Jack Beck sang The Night Visiting Song in 2001 on his Tradition Bearers CD Half Ower, Half Ower tae Aberdour. He noted:
One [of] a family of songs which reflect the difficulties of courting in rural areas with long distances involved, before the days of modern transport. The reference to the ‘grey cock’ is a remnant from earlier versions of the song where the young man is in fact the ghost of the girl’s dead lover and must leave before cock-crow or be doomed to join the ‘un-dead’! My version is based on a recording of Bella Higgins and Andra Stewart made by Hamish Henderson and Kenneth Goldstein in the mid 1950s.
Community choirs from the Test Valley sang The Night Visiting Song in 2001 on their WildGoose album Beneath Our Changing Sky. The liner notes commented:
The Night Visiting Song has connections back to mediaeval times, being related to the ‘Aubade’ or Dawn Song of the troubadours. The version here was collected by Dr G. Gardiner from William Stockley of Locksheath, near Titchfield [in September 1907 with the title The Lover’s Ghost, VWML GG/1/16/1014] .
Cherish the Ladies sang I Must Away Love on their 2004 album Across the Waves.
John Doyle sang The Cocks Are Crowing on his 2005 CD Wayward Son. He noted:
One of the night visiting songs you hear about, this one comes from a field recording of Eddie Butcher. I also heard it on a ground-breaking CD of The Voice Squad called Good People All. The last verse was always a mystery to me but with the help of Mick Moloney I got some much needed clarification on it.
Craig Morgan Robson sang The Night Visit Song on their 2006 CD Stranded. This track was also included in 2014 on WildGoose’s Sarah Morgan retrospective, Only Remembered. They noted:
Both tune and words were collected by George Gardiner from William Stockley of Locks Heath in Hampshire. There is a belief that the lover who visits his sweetheart by night is in fact a ghost, and has to leave at cock crow in order to return to the other world. However, this lover does not seem particularly ethereal, so it may be that he just needs to make a quick exit before the young lady’s father gets up for work!
That hasn’t stopped us from adding a haunting instrumental part by courtesy of Paul Sartin.
Al O’Donnell learned The Night Visiting Song from Ray Fisher and sang it on his 2008 album Ramble Away, both in a studio and in a live version. This video shows him at Jimmy Crowley’s Cork Folk Club at The Windsor LV Hotel, Cork, on June, 28 2012:
Ron Kavana sang The Night Visit on his 2011 album 40 Favourite Folk Songs.
Peter Shepheard sang Night Visiting Song in 2012 on Shepheard, Spiers & Watson’s Springthyme CD Over the High Hills. They noted:
A woman is woken in the night by her lover’s knock at the window. He is but the ghost of her lover and must depart before sunrise to return to the other world.
There are many versions of this collected from recent living tradition in Scotland and the evidence of the night visitor being a returning ghostly lover is not always present. The titles vary: I Must Away, The Porter Laddie, Night Visit Song, The Lover’s Ghost. This version is largely from the singing of Duncan Johnstone of Torwood, Birnam recorded by Peter Shepheard in 1967 (Springthyme 67.4.3) but with the tune and some text from Bella Higgins and Andra Stewart recorded by Hamish Henderson in Blairgowrie in 1958.
The indicators of the supernatural are the departure of the lover as the cocks begin to crow, the sounding of his trumpet as he leaves and his statement that he “must cross the morning’s tempest”—a return journey to the other world. The song may ultimately derive from, or is at least related to, the ballad named by Francis James Child as The Grey Cock (Child 248) and also Sweet William’s Ghost (Child 77).
Nick Dow sang Who Is That? on his 2013 album Old England’s Ground. He noted:
Collected by Ralph Vaughan Williams from Mr Loveridge Junior.
A song from the Gypsy Folk. Vaughan Williams got this from the family camped near the Trumpet pub at Ashperton Herefordshire. The pub is there to this day and the campsite is now a touring caravan site (Google Earth is a useful tool). The song is a version of the Night Visiting Song, popular with travellers for generations. Roy Palmer tells the full story in his song collection Bushes and Briars, from which I learned this song.
Josie Duncan sang The Night Visiting Song on her and Pablo Lafuente’s 2018 album The Morning Tempest. They noted:
You can find ‘Night Visiting’ songs across all strands of traditional song, but this particular version comes from Ireland and is usually performed slowly, most famously by Luke Kelly. While night visiting songs are usually about a forbidden lover or a ghost, this one does not specify which it is about. We first heard this more upbeat version of the song performed by Josie’s flatmate, Madeleine Stewart, who learned it from the band Halali.
Piers Cawley sang The Night Visiting Song at a Trad Song Tuesday Twitter singaround. He included his recording in 2020 on his download EP Trad Song Tuesdays Volume 0. He also sang it on his download album Isolation Sessions #2. where he noted:
I’d just learned The Grey Cock (on Isolation Sessions #1) ) when my wife Gill sang this to me and, well, I had to learn that too. I love how two songs can have such a different sense when they share so much—including whole verses. But you can hear the tune of the first verse here and be fairly sure it’s unlikely to end with apocalyptic visions and sex with ghosts.
It is folk song though, so you never know, maybe in this one Willy just keeps quiet.
Kathryn Roberts and Sean Lakeman sang Night Visiting on their 2023 album Almost a Sunset.
Matt Quinn and George Sansome sang the Night Visiting Song in 2023 on their duo album Sheffield Park. Matt Quinn noted:
Learned from the singing of the Scottish trio Shepheard, Spiers and Watson. A song in which nothing bad happens. Everyone has a lovely time. Is it even a folk song if nothing bad happens?
Adam Holmes sang the Night Visiting Song on his 2024 album The Voice of Scotland.
The Wilderness Yet sang Cocks Are Crowing on their 2024 CD Westlin Winds. They noted:
Philippe [Barnes] takes the lead on this classic night-visiting song we have from The Voice Squad.
Nuala Kennedy and Eamon O’Leary sang The Night Visiting Song on their 2024 album Hydra. They noted:
Our version of this beautiful love song famously sung by the late Luke Kelly, which Nuala first heard from the Scottish balladeer Archie Fisher.
Lyrics
Ray and Archie Fisher sing The Night Visiting Song
I must away now, I can no longer tarry,
This morning’s tempest I have to cross.
I must be guided without a stumble
Into the arms I love the most.
And when he came to his true love’s dwelling
He knelt down gently upon a stone,
And through the window he’s whispered lowly
“Is my true lover within at home?”
She’s lifted her head from off her down-white pillow,
She’s lifted the blankets from off her breast
And through the window she’s whispered lowly,
“Who’s that disturbing me at my night’s rest?”
“Wake up, wake up, love, it is your own true lover,
Wake up, wake up, love, and let me in;
For I am wet, love, and o so weary,
For I am wet, love, into my skin.”
She’s raised her up with the greatest of pleasure,
She’s raised her up to let him in,
And they were locked in each other’s arms
Until the long night was past and gone.
And when the long night was past and over,
And when the small clouds began to grow,
He’s ta’en her hand, aye, they’ve kissed and parted,
Then he’s saddled and mounted and away did go.
John Reilly sings Adieu Unto All True Lovers
For here’s adieu unto all true lovers
And to my true lover where’er she’ll be.
This very night I mean to be with her
Though she is a many a long mile away.
If the night was dark and as dark as a dunghill
And no daylight, love, for to appear,
Saying, “I’ll be guided without a stumble
Into the arms of you, my dear.”
Oh, when he came to his own love’s cottage
He’d kneel down gently all on a stone,
Through a pane o’ glass he had whispered slowly,
“I say, true love, are you all alone?”
“Who’s that? Who’s that at my bed window
Disturbing me from my long night’s rest?”
“Oh, I say, lover, do not discover,
Open the door, love, and let me in.
I say, true lover, do not discover
Besides I’m wet, love, unto the skin.”
Oh, she rose up off her soft down pillow,
Opened the door and let her love in.
Where they both caught hands and they kissed each other;
A welcome night it did soon begin.
They still kept hands and they embraced each other
Until the long night was at an end.
Saying, “ Willie, Willie, where is your flushes?
Where is your flushes you had years ago?”
Saying “Molly Bann, sure cold clay has changed ’em
The raging seas between me and you.”
They still kept hands and they ’braced each other
Until the cocks they begin to crow
And then shook hands and he cried and parted:
“To the burning temples, love, I have to go.”
Norman Kennedy sings The Night Visiting Song
The time has come, I can no longer tarry;
This morning’s tempest I must shortly brave
To cross the moors and high towering mountains
Until I’m in the arms of the one I love.
And when he came to his true love’s dwelling
He knelt down gently upon a stone
And whispered softly into the window
“Does my own true love lie there alone?”
She lifted her head from off her down-white pillow,
She’s lifted the blankets from off her breast
And raised herself up onto an elbow,
“Who’s that disturbing me from my night’s rest?”
“It’s I, it’s I, it’s I, your own true lover,
Oh open the door, love, and let me in;
For I am wet love and also wearied,
For I am wet love into the skin.”
She raised herself up with the greatest of pleasure,
She’s raised her up and she’s let him in;
And all night long they rolled in each other’s arms
Until the long night was past and gone.
And when the long night was past and over
And when the small cocks began to crow,
He shook her hand, aye, they’ve kissed and parted.
He’s saddles and mounted and away did go.
Eddie Butcher sings The Cocks Are Crowing
The cocks is crowing, daylight’s appearing,
It’s drawing nigh to the break of day.
“Arise, my charmer, out of your slumber,
Arise, my darling, and come away.”
When he came to his true love’s window
He kneel-ed low down upon a stone,
And through a pane he did whisper slowly,
“Arise, my darling, and let me in.”
“Who is that that is at my window
Or who is that that knows me so well?”
“It is I, it’s I, a poor wounded lover
That fain would talk, love, unto you a while.
“Go away, love, and ask your daddy
If he’ll allow you my bride to be
And if he says, No, then return and tell me
For this is the last night I will trouble you.”
“My dada he is in his bed-chamber,
He’s fast asleep on his bed of ease.
But in his pocket there lies a letter
Which readeth far, love, unto your dispraise.”
“Oh what dispraise can he give unto me?
A faithful husband to you I’ll be.
And what other neighbours has round their houses
The same, my darling, you will have with me.
“Go away then and ask your mammy
If she’ll allow you my bride to be.
And if she says, No, then return and tell me
For this is the last night I will trouble you.”
“My mama she is an old-aged woman,
She scarce would hear, love, one word I’d say.
But she bids you go and to court some other
For I’m not fitting, love, your bride to be.”
“I may go, but I will court no other,
My heart it’s link-ed all in your charms.
I would have you wed, love, and leave your mammy
For you’re just fit to lie in your true love’s arms.”
I will go unto the wild mountain
Where I’ll see nothing but the wild deer,
Nor I’ll eat nothing but the wild her-bs
Nor I’ll drink nothing but my true love’s tears.
If Killyboyne it was mine in chorus
And the green fields they were mine in white
And if my pen it was made of the temper-ed steel
Sure my true love’s praises I could never write.
The Voice Squad sing The Cocks Are Crowing
The cocks are crowing, daylight is appearing,
It’s drawing nigh to the break of day.
Arise, my darling, out of your slumber,
Arise, my darling, and come away.
And when he came to his true love’s window
He kneeled low down upon a stone.
And through the window he whispered softly,
“Arise, my darling, and let me in.”
“Oh, who is that that is at my window?
And who is that that gives me no rest?”
“’Tis I, ’tis I, a poor wounded lover
Who fain would speak with you, love, awhile.
“Oh, go away then, and ask your daddy
If he would have you my bride to be.
And if he says no, then return and tell me,
For this is the last time I will trouble thee.”
“Oh, my dad-da, he is in his bed chamber
He’s fast asleep on his bed of ease
And in his pocket there lies a letter
Which reads, Musha darling, unto your disgrace.”
“Oh, what disgrace can he do unto me?
A faithful husband to you I’ll be.
And what other neighbours have round their houses,
The same, my darling, you will have with me.
“Oh, go away then, and ask your mammy
If she would have you my bride to be
And if she says no, then return and tell me,
For this is the last time I will trouble thee.”
“Oh, my mama, she is an old aged woman
And scarce can hear, love, a word I say.
But she’d have you go, love, and court some other
For I’m not a-fitting of your bride to be.”
“Oh, I will go unto the wild mountains
Where I’ll see nothing but the wild deer,
And I’ll eat nothing but the wild herbs, and
I’ll drink nothing but my true love’s tears.
And the green fields, they were mine, and wide,
If my pen were made of the tempered steel, sure
My true love’s praises I could never write.”
John Doyle sings The Cocks Are Crowing
“The cocks are crowing, daylight is appearing,
It’s drawing nigh to the break of day.
Arise my darling, out of your slumber,
Arise my darling, and come away.”
And when he came to his true love’s window
He kneeled low down upon a stone,
And through the window he whispered softly,
“Arise, my darling, and let me in.”
‘Oh, who is that, that is at my window?
And who is that, that gives me no rest?”
“ ’Tis I, tis I, a poor wounded lover,
Who fain, love, would speak to you a while.
“Oh, go away, then and ask your daddy
If he would have you my bride to be.
And if he says no, then return and tell me,
For this is the last time I will trouble thee.”
“Oh, my dad-da, he is in his bed chamber.
He is fast asleep on his bed of ease,
And in his pocket there lies a letter
Which reads, Musha darling, unto your disgrace.”
“Oh, what disgrace can he do unto me?
A faithful husband to you I’ll be.
And what other neighbors have round their houses
The same, my darlin’, you will have with me.
“Oh, go away, then, and ask your mammy
If she would have you my bride to be.
And if she says no, then return and tell me,
For this is the last time I will trouble thee.”
“Oh, my ma-ma, she is an old aged woman,
And scarce can hear, love, a word I say.
But she bids you go, love, and court some other
For I’m not a-fitting of your bride to be.”
“Oh, I will go unto the wild mountain
Where I’ll see nothing but the wild deer,
And I’ll eat nothing but the wild hares,
And I’ll drink nothing but my true love’s tears.
“If the Killey Boyne, it were my ink horn,
And the green fields, they were mine, and white,
If my pen were made of the tempered steel, sure
My true love’s praises I could never write.”
The Voice Squad sing The Night Visiting Song (I Must Away)
I must away now, I can no longer tarry
This morning’s tempest I have to cross
I must be guided without a stumble
Into the arms that I love the best.
And when he came to his true loves dwelling
He knelt down gently upon a stone
And through the window, he whispered softly
Is my true lover within this room?
Wake up, wake up love, it is your own true lover
Wake up, wake up love and let me in
For I am wet love and oh so weary
For I am wet love unto the skin.
She raised her head up, from off her down white pillow
She raised the blanket up from her breast
And they were locked in each other’s arms
Until the long night had passed and gone.
And when the long night was passed and over
And when the small clouds began to blow
He’s ta’en her hand aye, they kissed and parted
He saddled and bridled and away did go.
Ellen Mitchell sings I Must Away, Love
Although the night be as dark as dungeon,
Wi’ no’ a star tae be seen above,
I will be guided without one stumble
Intae the arms of my ain true love.
He stepped up tae her bedroom window,
He knelt down gently upon a stone,
And through the window he whispered softly,
“My darling dear, do you lie alone?”
She rose up fae her down-white pillow
And threw her arms around her breast.
“Who’s that, who’s that at my bedroom window,
Disturbing me at my long night’s rest?”
“’Tis I, ’tis I, love, it is your ain true lover.
Open the door, love, and let me in,
For I am come on a long night’s journey,
And I am drenched now untae the skin.”
She rose up wi’ the greatest o’ pleasure,
She opened the door and she’s let him in,
And then they kissed and embraced each other
Until the long night was past and gone.
And when the long night was past and over,
And all the small cocks began tae crow,
They kissed and parted,
He saddled and bridled,
He sounded his trumpet and away did go.
“I must away, love, I can no longer tarry.
This morning’s tempest I hae tae cross,
But I’ll be guided without a stumble,
Since I’ve been in the airms o’ the one I love best.”
Peter Shepheard sings Night Visiting Song
Although the night be as dark as dungeon,
No a star to be seen above;
It’s over the high hills I’ll roam with pleasure,
Into the arums of my true love.
He stepped up to her bedroom window,
He’s kneeled down silently upon a stone;
And through the window he,s whispered softly,
“My darling dear do you lie alone?”
She rose up from her down white pillow,
She’s lifted her arums from her lilly white breast;
“Who’se that, who’se that at my bedroom window,
Disturbing me at my long night’s rest?”
“’Tis I, ’tis I love, it is your own true lover,
Open the door now and let me in;
For I am come on a long night’s journey,
And I am near drenched unto the skin.”
She rose up then wi the greatest of pleasure,
She rose up and she let him in;
And they were locked in each other’s arums,
Until that long night was past an gone.
And when that long night, it was past and over,
And all the small cocks began to crow;
They’ve kissed an parted, he’s saddled and mounted,
He sounded his trumpet and away did go.
“For I must away love, I can no longer tarry,
This morning’s tempest I hae tae cross;
𝄆 It’s over the high hills I’ll roam wi pleasure,
Since I’ve been in the airms of my own true love.
It’s over the high hills I’ll roam wi pleasure,
Since I’ve been in the airms of my own true love.” 𝄇