Читать книгу Songs of the West - S. (Sabine) Baring-Gould - Страница 17

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C.J.S.

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1

There came three men from out the West

Their victory to try;

And they have ta'en a solemn oath,

Poor Barleycorn should die.

With a Ri-fol-lol-riddle-diddle-dol

Ri fol, ri fol dee.

2

They took a plough and ploughed him in,

Clods harrowed on his head;

And then they took a solemn oath

John Barleycorn was dead.

With a Ri-fol &c.

3

There he lay sleeping in the ground

Till rain did on him fall;

Then Barleycorn sprung up his head,

And so amazed them all.

With a Ri-fol &c.

4

There he remained till Midsummer

And look'd both pale and wan;

Then Barleycorn he got a beard

And so became a man.

With a Ri-fol &c.

5

Then they sent men with scythes so sharp

To cut him off at knee;

And then poor Johnny Barleycorn

They served most barbarouslie.

With a Ri-fol &c.

6

Then they sent men with pitch forks strong

To pierce him through the heart;

And like a doleful Tragedy

They bound him in a cart.

With a Ri-fol &c.

7

And then they brought him to a barn

A prisoner to endure;

And so they fetched him out again,

And laid him on the floor.

With a Ri-fol &c.

8

Then they set men with holly clubs,

To beat the flesh from th' bones;

But the miller served him worse than that

He ground him 'twixt two stones.

With a Ri-fol &c.

9

O! Barleycorn is the choicest grain

That 'ere was sown on land

It will do more than any grain,

By the turning of your hand.

With a Ri-fol &c.

10

It will make a boy into a man,

A man into an ass;

To silver it will change your gold,

Your silver into brass.

With a Ri-fol &c.

11

It will make the huntsman hunt the fox,

That never wound a horn;

It will bring the tinker to the stocks

That people may him scorn.

With a Ri-fol &c.

12

O! Barleycorn is th' choicest grain,

That e'er was sown on land.

And it will cause a man to drink

Till he neither can go nor stand.

With a Ri-fol &c.