SONG OF THE ELFIN MILLER
Fullmerrily rings the millstone round,Full merrily rings the wheel,Full merrily gushes out the grist—Come, taste my fragrant meal!As sends the lift its snowy drift,So the meal comes in a shower;Work, Fairies, fast, for time flies past—I borrowed the mill an hour.The miller he’s a worldly man,And maun hae double fee;So draw the sluice of the churl’s dam,And let the stream come free.Shout, Fairies, shout! see, gushing out,The meal comes like a river:The top of the grain on hill and plainIs ours, and shall be ever.One Elf goes chasing the wild bat’s wingAnd one the white owl’s horn;One hunts the fox for the white o’ his tail,And we winna hae him till morn.One idle Fay, with the glow-worm’s ray,Runs glimmering ’mong the mosses:Another goes tramp wi’ the Will-o-wisps’ lamp,To light a lad to the lasses.Oh, haste, my brown Elf, bring me cornFrom Bonnie Blackwood plains;Go, gentle Fairy, bring me grainFrom green Dalgona mains;But, pride of a’ at Closeburn ha’,Fair is the corn and fatter;Taste Fairies, taste, a gallanter gristHas never been wet with water.Hilloah! my hopper is heaped high;Hark to the well-hung wheels!They sing for joy; the dusty roofIt clatters and it reels.Haste, Elves, and turn yon mountain burn—Bring streams that shine like siller;The dam is down, the moon sinks soon,And I maun grind my miller.Ha! bravely done, my wanton Elves,That is a foaming stream:See how the dust from the mill flies,And chokes the cold moon-beam.Haste, Fairies, fleet come baptized feet,Come sack and sweep up clean,And meet me soon, ere sinks the moon,In thy green vale, Dalreen.Allan Cunningham
Fullmerrily rings the millstone round,Full merrily rings the wheel,Full merrily gushes out the grist—Come, taste my fragrant meal!As sends the lift its snowy drift,So the meal comes in a shower;Work, Fairies, fast, for time flies past—I borrowed the mill an hour.The miller he’s a worldly man,And maun hae double fee;So draw the sluice of the churl’s dam,And let the stream come free.Shout, Fairies, shout! see, gushing out,The meal comes like a river:The top of the grain on hill and plainIs ours, and shall be ever.One Elf goes chasing the wild bat’s wingAnd one the white owl’s horn;One hunts the fox for the white o’ his tail,And we winna hae him till morn.One idle Fay, with the glow-worm’s ray,Runs glimmering ’mong the mosses:Another goes tramp wi’ the Will-o-wisps’ lamp,To light a lad to the lasses.Oh, haste, my brown Elf, bring me cornFrom Bonnie Blackwood plains;Go, gentle Fairy, bring me grainFrom green Dalgona mains;But, pride of a’ at Closeburn ha’,Fair is the corn and fatter;Taste Fairies, taste, a gallanter gristHas never been wet with water.Hilloah! my hopper is heaped high;Hark to the well-hung wheels!They sing for joy; the dusty roofIt clatters and it reels.Haste, Elves, and turn yon mountain burn—Bring streams that shine like siller;The dam is down, the moon sinks soon,And I maun grind my miller.Ha! bravely done, my wanton Elves,That is a foaming stream:See how the dust from the mill flies,And chokes the cold moon-beam.Haste, Fairies, fleet come baptized feet,Come sack and sweep up clean,And meet me soon, ere sinks the moon,In thy green vale, Dalreen.Allan Cunningham
Fullmerrily rings the millstone round,Full merrily rings the wheel,Full merrily gushes out the grist—Come, taste my fragrant meal!As sends the lift its snowy drift,So the meal comes in a shower;Work, Fairies, fast, for time flies past—I borrowed the mill an hour.
Fullmerrily rings the millstone round,
Full merrily rings the wheel,
Full merrily gushes out the grist—
Come, taste my fragrant meal!
As sends the lift its snowy drift,
So the meal comes in a shower;
Work, Fairies, fast, for time flies past—
I borrowed the mill an hour.
The miller he’s a worldly man,And maun hae double fee;So draw the sluice of the churl’s dam,And let the stream come free.Shout, Fairies, shout! see, gushing out,The meal comes like a river:The top of the grain on hill and plainIs ours, and shall be ever.
The miller he’s a worldly man,
And maun hae double fee;
So draw the sluice of the churl’s dam,
And let the stream come free.
Shout, Fairies, shout! see, gushing out,
The meal comes like a river:
The top of the grain on hill and plain
Is ours, and shall be ever.
One Elf goes chasing the wild bat’s wingAnd one the white owl’s horn;One hunts the fox for the white o’ his tail,And we winna hae him till morn.One idle Fay, with the glow-worm’s ray,Runs glimmering ’mong the mosses:Another goes tramp wi’ the Will-o-wisps’ lamp,To light a lad to the lasses.
One Elf goes chasing the wild bat’s wing
And one the white owl’s horn;
One hunts the fox for the white o’ his tail,
And we winna hae him till morn.
One idle Fay, with the glow-worm’s ray,
Runs glimmering ’mong the mosses:
Another goes tramp wi’ the Will-o-wisps’ lamp,
To light a lad to the lasses.
Oh, haste, my brown Elf, bring me cornFrom Bonnie Blackwood plains;Go, gentle Fairy, bring me grainFrom green Dalgona mains;But, pride of a’ at Closeburn ha’,Fair is the corn and fatter;Taste Fairies, taste, a gallanter gristHas never been wet with water.
Oh, haste, my brown Elf, bring me corn
From Bonnie Blackwood plains;
Go, gentle Fairy, bring me grain
From green Dalgona mains;
But, pride of a’ at Closeburn ha’,
Fair is the corn and fatter;
Taste Fairies, taste, a gallanter grist
Has never been wet with water.
Hilloah! my hopper is heaped high;Hark to the well-hung wheels!They sing for joy; the dusty roofIt clatters and it reels.Haste, Elves, and turn yon mountain burn—Bring streams that shine like siller;The dam is down, the moon sinks soon,And I maun grind my miller.
Hilloah! my hopper is heaped high;
Hark to the well-hung wheels!
They sing for joy; the dusty roof
It clatters and it reels.
Haste, Elves, and turn yon mountain burn—
Bring streams that shine like siller;
The dam is down, the moon sinks soon,
And I maun grind my miller.
Ha! bravely done, my wanton Elves,That is a foaming stream:See how the dust from the mill flies,And chokes the cold moon-beam.Haste, Fairies, fleet come baptized feet,Come sack and sweep up clean,And meet me soon, ere sinks the moon,In thy green vale, Dalreen.
Ha! bravely done, my wanton Elves,
That is a foaming stream:
See how the dust from the mill flies,
And chokes the cold moon-beam.
Haste, Fairies, fleet come baptized feet,
Come sack and sweep up clean,
And meet me soon, ere sinks the moon,
In thy green vale, Dalreen.
Allan Cunningham
Allan Cunningham