The Fairy's Song

Scottish Fairy and Folk Tales, by George Douglas, [1901], at sacred-texts.com

THE FAIRY'S SONG. ²

"O where is tiny Hew?
  And where is little Len?
And where is bonnie Lu,
  And Menie of the Glen ?
And where's the place of rest--
  The ever changing hame ?
Is it the gowan's breast,
  Or 'neath the bells of faem?
    Ay lu lan dil y'u.

"The fairest rose you find
  May have a taint within;
The flower of womankind
  May not be free from sin,--
The fox-glove cup go bring,
  The tail of shooting sterne, p. 151
And round our grassy ring
  We'll pledge the pith o' fern.
    Ay lu lan dil y'u.

"And when the yellow moon
  Is gliding down the sky,
On wings of wishes boun',
  Our band to her can fly;
Her highest horn we'll ride,
  And quaff her honey dew;
Then in her shadowy side
  Our gambollings renew!
    Ay lu lan dil y'u.

Footnotes

150:2 The song is taken from a poem founded upon the above story, and entitled the Gloamyne Buchte. The author was James Telfer, schoolmaster at Saughtree, in Liddesdale born 1800, died 1862.