Jack Rowland

When she comes to court the fly

For never a drop must you eat nor drink

As we go along our road

And all that help us on the way

You must leave them lying dead"

So Jack Rowland has left his good long bow

And his arrows, one by one

And he's taken his father's good long gun

That never was drawn in vain

And never a drop did they eat or drink

As on the way they rode

And all that helped them on the way

Jack Rowland has left them dead

The horse that Jack Rowland sat on

She was black as the dark midnight

And her eyes shone far as the evening star

That put the sun to flight

It was Jack Rowland to the dark tower came

And he stood there without

Three times all around the place

The horse spun round about

And she cried, "Open door and open door

Open and let me ride"

And ere the third time she had spoke

See the door swing open wide

And he had spied some lovely park

That was lined with the silver grey

All hung with mists and a heavy dew

That shone clear as any day

No ceiling could this young man spy

No windows were there to be seen

But all round his head it shone blood-red

As the sun that sets at e'en

And he rode on and further on

As the tears come falling fast

For he thought he saw his sister Ellen

Wandering like any ghost

And she cried, "Woe be to you, Jack Rowland

For your life's not worth a pin

For had you a hundred thousand lives

You should not spare one of them

Oh, pity on you, Jack Rowland

Why stayed you not at home?

For when the king of the hill you find

Then help you will find none"

With that in come the king himself

All glorious to be seen

For he come riding the storm and the wind

With a club all in each hand

And he cried, "Rise, rise, Jack Rowland

Rise, rise and run

Now I smell Jack Rowland's blood

Jack Rowland's day is done

Get up, get up, you Jack Rowland

If you would fight with me

And we will see how a frightened man

Will let his courage flee"

And first he appeared as a raging bear

And then as a writhing snake

And then as a herd of angry bulls

That roared all in his face

Then he became a burning bush

With the flames that leapt so high

And he sang the song the spider sings

When he comes to court the fly

And Rose Jack Roland's horse

So loud I heard her cry

"Stand fast and fear you not," she cries

"No harm will come to thee"

And there she stood on the high hilltop

And the stars blazed in her mane

And she has turned to a mighty flood

And she bore down on the flame

But the King has changed to a little fish

To float all in the sea

And he fell as fast into the flood

As the dead branch from the tree

But she has changed to rods and lines

And she hunted the ocean floor

But he has become a fishing smack

And he hauled all lines aboard

So she has changed all in the sky

To a gale that howled and roared

She filled his sails, she beat his sides

And she drove him into shore

So he's become a deep dark night

And he dropped to the valley floor

But she rose up as the summer dawn

And she drove him on before

And she cried, "Rise, rise, Jack Roland

And the sun will rise with thee

And as the dew falls from the leaves

You shall see what you shall see"

And as the dew fell down from the leaves

And the daylight grew all 'round

He saw his sister and his two brothers

And mother naked on the ground

And he's taken them each all in his arms

And he's kissed them cheek and chin

He's wrapped them up in a cloak of gold

And they've gone riding home

Up and spoke the King himself

As he vanished in the sun

"Oh, I should have taken your horse," he cries

"And struck her blind and lame!"