The Mummers' Dance

When in the springtime of the year
When the trees are crowned with leaves
When the ash and oak and the birch and yew
Are dressed in ribbons fair

When owls call the breathless moon
In the blue veil of the night

The shadows of the trees appear

Amidst the lantern light

We've been rambling all the night
And some time of this day

Now returning back again
We bring a garland gay

Who will go down to those shady groves
And summon the shadows there

And tie a ribbon on those sheltering arms
In the springtime of the year

The songs of birds seem to fill the wood
That when the fiddler plays

All their voices can be heard
Long past their woodland days

We've been rambling all the night
And some time of this day

Now returning back again
We bring a garland gay

And so they linked their hands and danced
Round in circles and in rows

And so the journey of the night descends
When all the shades are gone

A garland gay we bring you here
And at your door we stand

It is a sprout well budded out

The work of our Lord's hand

We've been rambling all the night
And some time of this day

Now returning back again

We bring a garland gay

We've been rambling all the night
And some time of this day

Now returning back again
We bring a garland gay