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(A.D. 1200)
OF all the trees that grow so fair, | |
| Old England to adorn, | |
| Greater are none beneath the Sun, | |
| Than Oak, and Ash, and Thorn. | |
| Sing Oak, and Ash, and Thorn, good sirs, | 5 |
| (All of a Midsummer morn!) | |
| Surely we sing no little thing, | |
| In Oak, and Ash, and Thorn! | |
| |
| Oak of the Clay lived many a day, | |
| Or ever Æneas began. | 10 |
| Ash of the Loam was a lady at home, | |
| When Brut was an outlaw man. | |
| Thorn of the Down saw New Troy Town | |
| (From which was London born); | |
| Witness hereby the ancientry | 15 |
| Of Oak, and Ash, and Thorn! | |
| |
| Yew that is old in churchyard-mould, | |
| He breedeth a mighty bow. | |
| Alder for shoes do wise men choose, | |
| And beech for cups also. | 20 |
| But when ye have killed, and your bowl is spilled, | |
| And your shoes are clean outworn, | |
| Back ye must speed for all that ye need, | |
| To Oak, and Ash, and Thorn! | |
| |
| Ellum she hateth mankind, and waiteth | 25 |
| Till every gust be laid, | |
| To drop a limb on the head of him | |
| That anyway trusts her shade: | |
| But whether a lad be sober or sad, | |
| Or mellow with ale from the horn, | 30 |
| He will take no wrong when he lieth along | |
| ’Neath Oak, and Ash, and Thorn! | |
| |
| Oh, do not tell the Priest our plight, | |
| Or he would call it a sin; | |
| But—we have been out in the woods all night, | 35 |
| A-conjuring Summer in! | |
| And we bring you news by word of mouth— | |
| Good news for cattle and corn— | |
| Now is the Sun come up from the South, | |
| With Oak, and Ash, and Thorn! | 40 |
| |
| Sing Oak, and Ash, and Thorn, good sirs | |
| (All of a Midsummer morn)! | |
| England shall bide till Judgment Tide, | |
| By Oak, and Ash, and Thorn! | |
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