Unknown - Jack Rowland Lyrics

JACK ROWLAND

There was Jack Rowland and his two brothers
went out to play at ball
And there was their sister, Ellen Rowland
amidst them all

She tossed the ball so very high
She caught it with her knee
She kicked it high all in the old churchyard
Where no one it could see

She's hitched her skirts all around her waist
And after the ball she's run
They've waited long, her three brothers
But she's never come home again

Up the hill and down the hill
Three weeping brothers roamed
They told their mother that Ellen Rowland
How she has vanished and flown

And it's, "Oh my love," now cries their mother,
"Oh and alas," cries she
"For she has gone to the King of the Hill
No more by us, she'll be seen"

So up and rose the first brother
And he was a proud young man
He swore an oath and a solemn oath
That Ellen he'd seek and find

And he's run down to his father's stable
He's saddled the bonnie grey
And as the sun looked over the hill
We watched him ride away

Up and rose the second brother
A proud young man was he
And he swore an oath and a solemn oath
That Ellen he'd find and free

And he's run down to his father's stable
And he's saddled the bonnie brown
And as the sun stood up in the sky
We watched him ride from town

We stayed long and very long
With our gloves all in our hands
And sad were hearts all over the town
But he never came home again

And up there rose, then, Jack the fool
He's the youngest of all the three
He's saddled and bridled his mother's horse
But he's wept so bitterly

She spoke to him, his mother's horse
As they rode out of the way
She says, "Never you fear, you Jack Rowland
But listen to what I do say

And remember the song the spider sings
When she comes to court the fly

Never a drop must you eat or 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
While on the way they rode
And all that helped them on the way
Jack Rowland left them dead
The horse that Jack Rowland sat upon
She was black as the darkening night
And her eyes shone far as the evening star
That put the sun to flight

As Jack Rowland to the dark hour 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 e'er the third time she had spoke
See the door swing open wide

In it he spied some lovely tower(?)
that lined in the silver grey
All hung with mists and heavy dew
That shone clear as any day
No ceiling could this young man spy
No windows were there to be seen
But all around his head it shook the bed(?)
As the sun that sets at e'en

And he rode on and further on
The tears came 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 a home
When the King of the Hill, you find
Then help you will find none"
With that, in come the King, himself
Glorious to be seen
For he come riding the storm and the wind
With a club all in each hand

"Rise, rise, Jack Rowland
Rise, rise and run
For 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"

He's first turned him to a raging bear
And then to a writhing snake
And then's a herd of angry bulls
That roared all in his face
Then he became a burning bush
With a flame that lept so high
But he sang the song the spider sings
When he comes to court the fly

But up and rose Jack Rowland's horse
So loud I heard her cry
"Stand fast and fear you not," she cried
"No harm will come to thee"

There she stood an the high hill top
The stars shown in her mane
And she has turned to a mighty flood
She bore down on the plain

The King has changed to a little fish
To float all in the sea
And he fell as fast into the flood
As a dead branch from a tree
But she has changed to ropes and lines
And she hunted the ocean floor
He has become a fishing smack
And 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 spars
And she drove him onto shore

So he's become the deep dark night
And he dropped to the valley floor
And she rose up as the summer dawn
And she drove him on before

She cried, "Rise, rise, Jack Rowland
And the sun will rise with thee
As the dew falls from the leaves
We shall see what we shall see"
And as the dew fell from the leaves
And the daylight drew all around
He saw his sister and his two brothers
Mother naked on the ground

And he's taken them all in his arms
He's kissed them cheek and chin
He's wrapped them up in a cloak of gold
They've gone riding home

Up and spoke the King himself
As he vanished in the sun
"I should have taken your horse," he cried
And struck her blind and dumb"