‘Look there,’ said Ferrin, rapping out a quick rhythm on his hand drum. ‘Isn’t that the girl that kissed Gil this morning and got him all a-bother?’
Fallon tucked his fiddle beneath his chin and tuned the strings as he looked across the yard to where the roadway met the path to the inn. ‘Yes, to be sure, and there’s the rest of her companions all come back now for the party.’ He smiled and winked at his brother. ‘And do you think she’ll be singing a song or two with us,’ he went on, nodding at Gil, who had glimpsed the woman, Rowan, and now stood watching her.
Tomlin likewise had picked up his fiddle and begun to get in tune with Fallon. His brow raised as he took in the seemingly entranced leader of their group. He was about to make a barbed remark of his own, when Gil stepped to the fore of their little stage by the verandah and began to tap his right foot in a quick, attention grabbing rhythm. His clear, tenor voice rang out across the noise of those just gathering for the party. Tomlin began to pick the tune out with his bow, but Fallon stayed his arm. ‘Nay, let him sing along. We’ll see if the wee bird is ensnared by one song . . . or will she make him work for her company.’
The three stepped back and leaned against the porch railing, amused to the man at their friend’s dilemma . . .
One morn in May the fields were gay
Serene and pleasant was the weather
I spied a lass and a very bonny lass
She was scoopin dew in among the heather
Down the moor
In among the heather, o'er the moor
and through the heather
I spied a lass and a very bonny lass
She was scoopin dew in among the heather
Down the moor
Barefooted was she, she was comely dressed
and on her head neither cap nor feather
But the plaid hung neatly about her waist
As she tripped through the bloomin heather
Down the moor
In among the heather, o'er the moor
and through the heather
But a plaid hung neatly about her waist
As she tripped through the bloomin heather
Down the moor
I stepped up to this fair maid
Tell me your name what brings you hither
And she answered me down by the bonny Bann-side
And I'm herding all my ewes together
Down the moor
In among the heather, o'er the moor
and through the heather
And she answered me down by the bonny Bann-side
I'm herding all my ewes together
Down the moor
I courted her that lee-long day and
me heart was light as any feather
Until the beams of the red setting sun came
shining down in among the heather
Down the moor
In among the heather, o'er the moor
and through the heather
Until the beams of the red setting sun came
shining down in among the heather
Down the moor
She said young man, I must away
For my ewes are straying from each other
But I'm loath for to part from you as the bonnie
wee lamb is to part their mother
Down the moor
In among the heather, o'er the moor
and through the heather
But I'm as loath to part from you as the bonnie
wee lambs as to part their mother
Down the moor
So up she got and away she went and her
place and her name I cannot gather
But if I were king, I would make her a queen
The bonny lass I met among the heather
Down the moor
In among the heather, o'er the moor
and through the heather
But if I were king, I would make her queen
The bonny wee lass I met among the heather
Down the moor . . .