Oh Cape Breton rise with the ocean's call
Your mountains stand proud your rivers enthrall
From the shores to the skies let your spirit be heard
In the song of the people every echo every word

The fiddle cries the bagpipes soar
The bodhrán beats like a heart at the core
The guitar hums the voices swell
Together they weave an island's spell

We sing for the island the land and the sea
For the stories that shaped us the roots of the free
The spirit of Cape Breton will never decay
Forever alive in the music we play

Where the ocean hums in a low deep tune
Where the cliffs wear capes of silver moon
The wind writes stories on the shore
Of those who came and stayed for more

Oh the tides they rise they call they sing
Of the hearts that bled of the roots they bring

Cape Breton oh you wild fierce land
You cradle dreams in your rugged hands
Through storm and stone through fire and rain
Cape of the brave we rise again

My song is but a single strand in the weave of a great tapestry
A harmony of melodies as diverse as the peoples of this land
Cape Breton — the eternal song

At the place where the waters meet the sky
Where land and sea and sky become one
A place as old as time
Where beauty and mystery flow as one
Cape Breton — the eternal song

Come — listen to the eternal song
Come — listen to the eternal song

Cape Breton your beauty will never die
The sun will always rise
Cape Breton the waters will never dry
Where waters meet the sky

In the cradle of the earth where the waters run wide
The first breath of dawn kissed the ocean's tide
A people arose with the song of the land
Wabanaki whispers in the grains of sand

For ten thousand years the moon has lit up the night
Over forests and rivers showing darkness and light
The rhythm of life in the heart of the drum
The tales of the elders where we come from

Feel the pulse — hear the beat — let it guide you home
Through the winds — through the waves — where the spirits roam
The Atlantic holds the visions of a sacred dream
Wabanaki lives in the water's gleam

The cedar and the pine they tell their tale
Of the people who thrive where the wild winds wail
The stories etched in the bark of the trees
Echo through time carried by the breeze

Listen to the chant to the deep spoken voice
It carries the wisdom it sings by choice
This land — Mi'kma'ki — it holds the key
To the ancient soul of Wabanaki

From the deep earth where the roots entwine
A story whispers through the sands of time
Wabanaki rises where the waters embrace
The Atlantic hums with the ancestors' grace

Ten thousand years carved in stone and stream
Life unfolding like a boundless dream
The voices of elders echo through the pines
Wisdom carried on the ocean's brine

Feel the drumbeat in the heart of the land
Hear the chant rise from the shifting sand
A history etched in the sky and the sea
The tale of the ancient Wabanaki

The seaboard speaks in a language of waves
Stories kept in the hollows of caves
Every tide sees a chapter unfold
Every dawn paints the stories of old

The sun and moon dance in celestial play
Marking the rhythm of night and day
From birch bark canoes to the eagle's flight
The spirit of the land burns ever bright

Feel the drumbeat in the heart of the land
Hear the chant rise from the shifting sand
A history etched in the sky and the sea
The tale of the living Wabanaki

Beneath the stars the earth hums low
The whispering pines the rivers flow
A tale of old from the sacred land
Of Glooscap's might and guiding hand

He shaped the world with a giant's stride
Where mountains rose and oceans sighed
The song of the wind the fire's glow
Glooscap's spirit will always grow

He transformed the beasts and calmed the storm
The ancient one who gave us form
Through forests deep and skies so wide
His wisdom flows like the rising tide

The chants of the Mi'kmaw echo still
Through valleys deep and silent hills
A people's voice a sacred guide
Glooscap's light carried with pride

Above the pines so green so still
The shadow glides of K'itpu's will
Through whispers wind speaks truths of old
A timeless dance a story told

Lift us higher eagle's wing
To where the sky and spirits sing
You carry prayers far above the sea
To where the clouds embrace the free

Each feather holds a story's weight
A journey born of sacred grace
Through rivers' mist and mountain crest
K'itpu soars on sacred quest

The flute it calls a mournful tone
Like winds that carved the ancient stone
The whispers rise like ocean mist
Each voice a heart by earth's breath kissed

From dawn to dusk a vigil held
While spirit realms by stars compelled
Oh K'itpu's path in skies aligns
With rhythms born of earth's design

Les étoiles tombent dans la nuit noire
Des souvenirs brûlent comme un vieux phare
J'ai perdu mon cœur dans le brouillard
But still I rise encore ce soir

Laissez tomber laissez tomber
Les larmes d'hier vont s'effacer
Laissez tomber laissez tomber
We'll dance again come what may

The shoreline sings with the winds of time
Les chênes pleurent but they still climb
Les rêves cassés ça fait du bruit
But the beat goes on dans ma vie

Un pas en avant deux pas en arrière
We stumble but we repair

Grab the spoons feel the sway
Clap your hands and chase away
Les fantômes du passé
C'est la vie let's play

There's no way that they could breach the Fortress of Louisbourg
Dominant — strong — beautiful — more dramatic than before
Here comes the artillery the navy it won't scare me
The fortress — the fortress — the fortress of Louisbourg

C'est une grande erreur
Une grande erreur
Oh — it's a big mistake

There's no way that they could breach the Fortress of Louisbourg
The ships have all been scuttled and the main road has been blocked
Here comes the artillery the navy it won't scare me
The fortress — the fortress — the fortress of Louisbourg

Sur le roc battu par l'orage
On dressait des murs contre la mer
Canons braqués vers l'horizon
Le sel dans le sang le fer dans la chair
On the wind a distant drum
Flags that snap against the sky
Stone by stone we carved our vow
To stand — to rise — never bow

Forteresse de Louisbourg hear our name
Stone and flame proud and tall above the waves — we remain
Fortress of Louisbourg hearts of steel we don't yield
From the thunder and the storm we stand — we shield

Dans la brume les ombres avancent
Torches vives sur le rivage
Chaque cri se perd dans le vent
Mais la foi tient bon sur les remparts
English tongues and French prayers meet
In the dark before first light
Different songs the same sharp breath
One last charge into the night

Sous la pluie sous le feu
Same red earth beneath our feet
Tes murs gardent nos histoires
Every loss — every heartbeat
Louisbourg our battle cry rises higher than the guns
Dans tes ruelles dans tes tours
We live on — we are not done

Louisbourg — fière et libre
On the edge of land and sea
Your proud stones remember
And they sing of you and me

Salt on the wind — kelp on the rope
Gulls draw circles over cedar and smoke
Quiet drum heartbeat — old songs in the spray
Two tongues braided in the break of day

We came on a hunger on a promise of cold gold
White fields of silver in the nets we'd hold
Stone on stone rising over red sand and pine
Flag cloth snapping on a borrowed skyline
Treaty words spoken by the fire's slow light
Hands clasped eyes wary on the turning tide
Maps spread open like a wound in the grass
Lines drawn certain on a land that laughs

Raise it high the fortress on the headland
Let the hammers ring we're carving out a throne
Sing for the catch for the glitter of the cod runs
For the fat-salt barrels stacked like hewn grey stone
Oh this empire built on breaking water
Hear the harbor shout hear the harbor roar
We drink to the ships to the mothers and the daughters
To the shining years we swear will last once more

Bodhrán like thunder fiddle cuts through the gale
Men shout numbers as they haul the pale
Smoke from the chimneys clings low to the foam
Every tongue bargaining for a slice of home
Cannon mouths open like they're praying for a war
Harbor lights swelling with each creaking oar
Choirs in the chapel praise a conquering grace
While shadows of spruce cross an older trace

Then the masts burned down to splinters
And the flags came down like rain
Names were scattered in the tide pools
And the shore forgot our names
House frames empty — grass in the floor
Smokehouse quiet — rusted hinges on the door
Where did the songs go we were sure would never fade
Just a lone bird crying over beds of shell and shale

Soft echo of footsteps on a road that isn't there
One word in an old tongue hangs trembling in the air
Salt on the wind — kelp on the rope
A harbor made of memory past the reach of hope

On s'est cachés dans les marais
Entre les roseaux les rochers
Les noms brûlés sur les papiers
Gravés dans le bois des vieux canots
Les tantes priaient sous les couvertes
Les oncles riaient pour faire semblant
On a fait des crêpes avec presque rien
Mais on a gardé le goût du grand

Toujours vivants — toujours vivantes
Raise your voice — raise your verre — on chante
Tap tes pieds — let the floorboards give
On voulait nous taire — still we live

We hid our words in every phrase
A little French in all our plays
The teacher frowned we bit our tongues
But laughed in the kitchen filled the lungs
Grand-père disait « Parle comme tu peux
Mais n'oublie jamais d'où vient le feu »

Hey là-bas tu entends?
Les vieux refrains dans le vent
Chaque « hey! » est une prière
Chaque rire une lumière
From the bayous to the bays
We're the echo that remains

Toujours vivants — toujours vivantes
Criez fort que le ciel nous entende
Tape — danse — que la maison vibre
On voulait nous taire — still we live

Thig an t-earrach Cubhraidh blath [ Spring will come, fragrant and warm ]
Grainean greine air gach sraid [ Sunbeams dancing on every street ]
Feur a' fas is duilleach ur [ Grass grows tall, leaves turn bright ]
Cuir sinn ceol air feadh an duir [ Let's bring music to the wild tonight ]

Seasons turning — round we go ( Suathadh laimhe, work it so )
Dancing light — the winds that blow ( Seinn le cheile, row by row )
Turning of the seasons — aye

Sios an samhradh Laithean bana [ Summer falls, days of white ]
Laughter ringing — Oidhche fhada [ through the night ]
Eorna buidhe Sruthan mall [ Golden barley, slow streams flow ]
Cuir ar cridhe anns an talla [ We bring our hearts to the hall ]

Foghar beag Na duilleagan or [ A little autumn, leaves of gold ]
Cailleach geal Sneachda stor [ The white crone brings snow to hold ]
Meala blath is teine mor [ Warm honey, big fires soar ]
Cuir sinn ceol Ni sinn beo [ Let's make music, we'll live for sure ]

An cruinne-ce Bidh sinn fior [ The universe, we'll be true ]
Bho earrach geamhradh Bidh sinn ur [ Spring to winter, we'll renew ]
Together now — we clap — we cheer

Close your eyes there's nothing here to see
Oh you won't feel a thing when they come for you and me

I'll hold you tight but there's nothing we can do
When the men in white bring their fires to our door

When they take us from our houses in the glen
And they throw us in the water like stones
And we sink below the waves to the other side
We'll never call it home — never call it home

And we'll pretend it's only in our minds
We won't go without a fight when they come for you and I

All aboard the ship is ready to go
To another world across the sea
It's our only hope

Burn the glens to clear the lands for the sheep must have their way
In the time of Culloden they are called to faraway
Their homes are gone no work to do they are driven to the seas
Where they find a ship to take them to a land of hope and dreams

There's a house a bonnie house in the middle of the glen
There were men who had lived there and they are no more — they're gone
A white ship came to the harbor to the house where they had been
Now there is no more bonnie house in the middle of the glen

Run — run — run for your lives
You have been driven from your homes
They have burned the glens and cleared the lands
And you must run — run for your lives

A black house a bonnie house in the middle of the glen
There were men who had lived there and they are no more — they're gone
A white ship came to the harbor to the house where they had been
Now there is no more bonnie house in the middle of the glen

The fire's glow on the Highland hill
They tore our roots but we're here still
The laird's command drove us away
To unknown shores we sailed that day

We crossed the sea to find the land
Where dreams were made by calloused hands
The air was cold the stars our guide
On Cape Breton's shore we did abide

The fields were burned the sheep did graze
Our homes were lost in smoky haze
They called it law we called it pain
So to the waves we turned again

The bodhrán beat it held our heart
Through tempests wild we'd never part
A Gaelic song the wind did cry
Our spirit soared beneath the sky

The soil was rough the winters mean
But hope was sewn in fields of green
Our voices rose our story's told
A land of new but hearts of old

We cast our nets at the break of dawn
For the fish that sparkle and tease
The tide it knows where the good ones spawn
Out past the groves of maple trees

Oh the barrels roll and the waves they hum
No fish finer than the special ones
Keep your eyes on the sea and your lips shut tight
For the Fisherman's Secret sails tonight

We gut the catch in the pale moon's glow
Scales like gold and fins so thin
Don't ask too much don't ask to know
What's hidden deep beneath the skin

The wind may whisper but it won't confess
What lies beneath our ocean's dress

The lighthouse blinks it knows the code
A wink a flash and off we go
The fish may flop but they don't complain
When they swim in barrels of golden rain

They came with the tide where the wild winds blow
No home to their name no land to sow
From the heathered hills to the ocean's cry
They left their past beneath a foreign sky

No place to call our own
We built this land from stone
With blood and sweat and bone
We rose where the wild winds moan

Through famine's grip and the widow's tears
They carved a life through the shadowed years
The Gaelic tongue and the songs they sung
Became the voice of the old and young

And still their spirits guide us here
Through the storms of loss and the winds of fear
We hold their names in the soil we tread
The ones who lived and the ones who bled

Whisper of dawn through the heathered hill
Soft as a prayer yet it bends the will
The river runs wide the heart beats still

Rise like the morning oh rise oh rise
Lift up your spirit to the endless skies
The storm may howl but the fire never dies

Stone upon stone we have carved our name
Through wind and rain through joy and flame
The earth remembers it knows our claim

Through shadowed glens where echoes sing
A voice of hope an eternal spring

We are the roots we are the tree
Bound to the earth yet longing to be free
A thousand voices one melody

Au revoir Chéticamp — bonjour Mabou
Inverness — Ingonish — on the Cabot Trail
Bonjour Mabou on the Cabot Trail
Inverness — Ingonish

Wreck Cove and Margaree — Wagmatcook — Whycocomagh
Shores of St. Ann's Bay on the Cabot Trail
Wagmatcook — Whycocomagh on the Cabot Trail
Shores of St. Ann's Bay

Et la danse (et la danse)
Et la danse (et la danse)
Et la danse (et la danse)

Englishtown — Scotch Brook — Frenchvale — Baddeck
Welcome home Wagmatcook on the Cabot Trail
Frenchvale — Baddeck on the Cabot Trail
Welcome home Wagmatcook

Step by step on the winding trail
Feet tap the earth where the whispers sail
The sky wears stars like a velvet veil
We move to the beat of the moonlight tale

Dance the Cabot Trail oh we go we go
From village to village where the rivers flow
With fiddles and laughter the night's aglow
Dance the Cabot Trail oh we go — we go

A fiddle cries where the forest hums
The sea keeps time with the drum-drum-drums
Lanterns swinging where the dark has come
We twirl till the dawnlight softly drums

Every step a story told
Every laugh a treasure gold

The hills rise high but the joy runs deep
We dance where the cliffs and the waters meet
A hand in mine the night's a feast
From the east to the west — from the west to the east

The roof is low the walls are thin
A house of soot where life begins
The kettle sings a mournful tune
Beneath the grey of Cape Breton's moon

Footsteps echo down the lane
Each one a promise each one a chain

Into the mines we go again
Fathers lead sons through the choking vein
A prayer on lips for the light to stay
But the dark might steal us all away

Hands like leather backs bent low
A pick in rhythm a lantern's glow
Voices hum an old refrain
A hymn to earth to ease the pain

The ceiling groans the timbers sigh
The walls breathe heavy like they're alive

Pickaxe swinging sunrise yawn
A whistle blows the day drags on
Black dust in my lungs it's the miner's song
Digging deeper but the debt stays strong

Down to the Company Store oh Lord
Earned my pay but I can't afford
The bread the boots the roof the floor
Everything's theirs at the Company Store

Sweat and grime on a penny's worth
A shovel digs more than the weight of earth
My back breaks my soul feels cursed
Every payday my pockets reversed

Owe them for the shovel owe them for the lamp
Owe them for the boots and the coal-stained pants

Freedom's a word that they sell on a shelf
Buy it on credit enslave yourself
Can't run can't hide can't help but sigh
Born in this debt and here I'll die

Thin walls sang with whispers low
Ten kids laughing in a row
Secrets folded hearts to show
A kettle hums it's time to go

Open doors and endless tea
Warmth of love a symphony
Barefoot steps on wooden floors
Life was rich behind those doors

Patchwork quilts and patched-up dreams
Bread was thin but hope ran deep
Stories spilled in smoky beams
And kindness grew where roots could keep

Oh the wind it called us in
From the fields from the din

Rain on the roof we'd all gather tight
Sharing our fears by the dim firelight
Through every crack the world tried to see
But it couldn't take our family

The S&L's a rolling snail
A track-bound tale with time to fail
It huffs it puffs it slows to crawl
A lazy beast not fast at all

Slow and lazy rollin' through
Chugga-chugga what's the rush to do
Grab a bucket pick some blues
The S&L will wait for you

The cows all watch and chew their cud
We're slower than the springtime mud
A rabbit passed us waved goodbye
I think I saw a turtle fly

Clang and clatter — bump and grind
Time forgot but we don't mind

The engine coughs the whistle moans
A rusty tune of creaks and groans
But oh the view it's worth the ride
Cape Breton's heart beats with the tide

The mirrored lake reflects the sky
A quiet place where echoes lie
The whispers of the winds do soar
Along the banks of Myra's shore

Soft waves call they gently plead
Beneath the skies that never bleed
A secret held a tranquil lore
In the heart of the Myra shore

The shadows stretch the twilight bends
Time here stops it never ends
Colors dance on water's floor
A living dream along the Myra shore

The light is silk the air is thin
The world outside can't enter in
A sanctuary nothing more
To heal the soul on the Myra shore

The stars will watch the night will flow
A lullaby in night's soft glow
I leave my heart it beats no more
Carried home along the Myra shore

The road is stone the sky is gray
The wind has tales it will not say
My boots wear miles I can't retrace
Each step an echo of a younger face

I am the roots and the rock and the flame
I am the one who has come home again
The land remembers though I have changed
This is my home my heart reclaimed

The trees still whisper but not the same
The river hums a softer refrain
Fields once golden now lined with ash
Time has carved its mark and passed

But the hills they rise as if they know
The weight I bring the life I owe

The wind greets me as an old friend
Its voice carries what words won't mend
I left in fire I return in stone
But the earth still calls me its own

Alone she sings where shadows dwell
A voice like wind through ancient dell
Soft as mist on morning stone

Hollow hills remember still
The songs of those who will not yield

We rise — we rise with the echoing skies
Bound by the knot where the heart never dies
Through storm and fire our spirit flies

Oaken roots hold stories deep
The mountains guard where secrets sleep
Stars above our whispered prayer

The rivers carve the songs we save
Their echoes rise from every wave

On the cliffs where the winds do roam
A fiddle sings it calls me home
The waves crash wild they beat the shore
Echoes of tales from days of yore

Step by step the rhythm flows
In the kitchen where the fire glows

Highland heart oh feel the beat (feel the beat!)
Dancing feet where the old ways meet
Cape Breton calls the soul's alive
Through Gaelic songs we'll always thrive

Voices rise they paint the sky
A language sung it will not die
The ceilidh hums the laughter flies
Beneath the stars the spirit lies

The mist it rises soft and slow
Across the lakes where whispers go
An osprey dives its wings unfold
The morning speaks in hues of gold

Simple joys and quiet streams
Small-town hearts and steady dreams
Gratitude flows where I stay
In the arms of Bras d'Or Bay

A neighbor waves from down the lane
Their smile as warm as summer rain
The rhythm here is calm and kind
It wraps around this heart of mine

The water's mirror holds the sky
Reflecting life as days drift by
I find my peace in this embrace
Contentment's song in this small place

The world can rush and blur away
But here the time invites me to stay
A fishing boat hums through the haze
Its gentle song — a hymn of praise

Ah tu parles anglais comme un canard dans la boue
You talk like the mud is stuck right to your shoe
Mais écoute-moi bien mon ami mon vieux
There's music in French that'll get into you

Well I heard what you said and I'll tell you what's true
Your words take all week just to say what I do
But I'll give you this much there's a honey in there
Like the smell of the salt on a cold morning air

Deux mots — two words — un chant — one song
We've been arguing brother since way too long
Ta langue — your tongue — ma voix — my voice
Somewhere in the middle we made a good noise

Ton accent mon dieu c'est terrible c'est vrai
You flatten my vowels like the hay in the bale
But when you try singing I'll give you this too
There's something that's honest in the way that you do

Your grandmother's stories would go on all night
With the fire burning low and the candles all bright
I didn't catch half of the words that she'd say
But I cried at the end of it anyway

( French ) Je voulais dire —
( English ) — You wanted to say?
( French ) Que la vie est belle —
( English ) — That the sky's turning grey?
( Both together ) We're saying the same thing right here at the end

Deux mots — two words — un chant — one song
Ta langue — your tongue — ma voix — my voice
( spoken ) "Bonne nuit." "Good night."
( together, laughing ) We made a good noise

Fiddle sings and the floorboards creak
Whiskey flows as the neighbors speak
Pass the melody like a secret flame
We're all kin no need for names

Clap your hands till the rafters shake
Stamp your feet let the spirit awake
Kitchen walls can't hold this spree
Welcome to the jubilee

Guitar hums like a warm embrace
Laughter lines every smiling face
Bow strings whisper then they shout
Music in — worries out

The clock forgot the time tonight
Dawn's a rumor not in sight

Candles flicker shadows dance
Eyes meet in a fleeting glance
Strangers now but wait and see
We're family by melody

Rivers of whisky and rivers of gold
Many are the stories that we have been told
Of the sea and of the stars on the Isle of Cape Breton
Where the sea is hard and the winters cold
But love of the land it does take hold
On the Isle of Cape Breton — on the Isle of Cape Breton

The people come and the people go
But always will the Celtic fire glow
The people come and the people go
But always will the Celtic fire glow
On the Isle of Cape Breton — on the Isle of Cape Breton

Many a journey to get us here
The stormy seas we had to steer
On the Isle of Cape Breton
And for those who came — those who stayed
Those who suffered — and those who played
On the Isle of Cape Breton — on the Isle of Cape Breton

We come and go but we'll always know
The Celtic fire always will glow
On the Isle of Cape Breton — on the Isle of Cape Breton

Oh Cape Breton rise with the ocean's call
Your mountains stand proud your rivers enthrall
From the shores to the skies let your spirit be heard
In the song of the people every echo every word

The fiddle cries the bagpipes soar
The bodhrán beats like a heart at the core
The guitar hums the voices swell
Together they weave an island's spell

We sing for the island the land and the sea
For the stories that shaped us the roots of the free
The spirit of Cape Breton will never decay
Forever alive in the music we play

Woke up to a drift on the doorstep
Car buried up to the mirrors
Dog took one look at the driveway
Signed a petition to move to Rio (hey!)
Kettle on I'm hummin' and shiverin'
Window's rattlin' like it's had enough
Blink one time turn back to the table
Tea froze solid in my cup

And the snow kept comin' just kept comin'
Blizzards stackin' to the sky (way up high)
Cape Breton winter are you kiddin'?
Even my breath gave up and died
Yeah the snow kept comin' just kept comin'
Ice on the ceiling ice in my glove
Cape Breton winter's kinda vicious
But we call it "weather" and shrug

Tried diggin' out my old Toyota
Found a snowman drivin' instead
Moose went past with a scarf and a latte
Said "Buddy go back to bed"
Wifi froze in the middle of a swear word
Phone stuck sayin' "brrrrr" on repeat
Even my thoughts got frostbite
Had to thaw 'em out by my feet

Neighbor skates past on his driveway
Waves — says "Spring's in two more months"
I say "You're an optimist MacNeil"
He laughs — his mustache snaps clean off (whoops!)

And the snow kept comin' just kept comin'
Roof's gone missin' house got a hump
Cape Breton winter you old legend
Turn my walk into a ski jump
If the world goes cold and crazy
We'll just laugh at the tea in the cup (hey!)

Young Jamie's bow was sharp and sly
A twinkle lit his knowing eye
From Halifax the critic came
To test the lad and stake his claim

Oh fiddle dee and fiddle dumb
Try to match where I come from
The strings they sing a merry flight
Outwit me now with all your might

The critic smirked and took the dare
His powdered wig and pompous air
He tapped his foot and sneered aloud
"I'll show this boy I'm music's shroud"

The bodhrán thumped a tricky beat
The fiddles danced and skipped their feet
A Gaelic tune spun wild and free
The critic gasped in disbelief

Now Jamie played with wicked glee
The critic fumbled awkwardly
The melodies grew fast and sly
Till Halifax could only sigh

One black fly on my left shoulder
Tiny devil bold as sin
Swat the air miss by inches
Here we bloody go again

Swingin' and slappin' at a black fly (hey!)
Hopping and running through the green hillside
If there's one then there's ten then a storm in the sky
Till I'm lifted off my feet by the black black fly

Two black flies on my collar
Round my neck they dance and dart
Stamp my boots curse and stagger
Feel that itch beneath my heart

Three — four — five on my hat brim
Six — seven — eight in my hair
Nine — ten — twenty on my back now
Is there mercy anywhere? (no there ain't!)

Cloud of wings a living blanket
Buzzing battle round my head
I leap the ditch trip and tumble
Wish that I had stayed in bed

They hoist me high like rowdy cousins
Up I go I howl and cry
Over hills past stone and clover
Carried off by the black black fly (black fly!)