The Highwayman

Lyrics

The wind was a torrent of darkness among the gusty trees And the moon was a ghostly galleon tossed upon cloudy seas The road was a ribbon of moonlight across the purple moor And the Highwayman came riding, riding, riding The Highwayman came riding up to the old inn door He'd a French cocked hat on his forehead and a bunch of lace at his chin A coat of the scarlet velvet and britches of brown doe skin They fitted with never a wrinkle his boots were up to the thigh And he rode with a jewelled twinkle his pistol butts a-twinklе His rapier hilt a-twinkle under thе jewelled sky Over the cobbles he clattered and clashed in the dark Inn yard He tapped with his whip on the shutters but all was locked and barred He whistled a tune to the window and who should be waiting there But the landlords black eyed daughter, Bess the landlords daughter Plaiting a dark red love knot into her long black hair But deep in the dark old Inn yard a stable wicket creaked Where Tim the ostler listened and his face was white and peaked His eyes were hollows of madness his hair like mouldy hay But he loved the landlords daughter, the landlords red lipped daughter And dumb as a dog he listened and he heard the robber say One kiss my bonny sweetheart for I'm after a prize tonight But I will return with the yellow gold before the morning light Yet if they press me sharply and harry me through the day Then look for me by moonlight watch for me by moonlight I'll come to thee by moonlight though hell should bar the way Up he stood in his stirrups he scarce could reach her hand But she loosened her hair in the casement his face burned like a brand As the black cascades of perfume came tumbling over his breast And he kissed its waves in the moonlight oh sweet black waves in the moonlight He tugged on his rein in the moonlight and galloped away to the west He did not come in the dawning and he did not come at noon And out of the tawny sunset before the rise of the moon When the road was a gypsy's ribbon looped across the moor The redcoat troop came marching, marching, marching King George's men came marching up to the old Inn door They said no word to the landlord they drank his ale instead But they gagged his daughter and bound her to the foot of her narrow bed And two of them knelt at her casement with their muskets by their sides There was death at every window and hell at one dark window For Bess could see from her casement the road that he would ride They had bound her up to attention with many's a sniggering jest They had bound a musket beside her with the muzzle beneath her breast Now keep good watch and they kissed her she heard the dead man say O look for me by moonlight watch for me by moonlight I'll come to thee by moonlight though hell should bar the way She twisted her hands behind her but all of the knots held good She writhed her hands till her fingers were wet with sweat or blood She stretched and strained in the darkness the hours crawled by like years Till now on the stroke of midnight cold on the stroke of midnight The tip of one finger touched it the trigger at least was hers The tip of one finger touched it she strove no more for the rest She stood up straight to attention with the muzzle beneath her breast She would not risk their hearing she would not strive again For the road lay bare in the moonlight blank and bare in the moonlight And the blood in her veins in the moonlight throbbed to her love's refrain Tlot tlot tlot had they heard it ? The horses hooves rang clear Tlot tlot tlot tlot in the distance were they deaf that they did not hear? Then down the ribbon of moonlight and over the brow of the hill The Highwayman came riding, riding, riding The redcoats looked to their priming she stood up straight and still Tlot tlot in the frosty silence tlot tlot in the echoing night Nearer he came and nearer her face was like a light Her eyes grew wide for a moment she drew one last deep breath Then her finger moved in the moonlight her musket shattered the moonlight Shattered her breast in the moonlight and warned him with her death He turned and rode to the westward he did not know who stood With her head bowed over her musket drenched in her own red blood 'Twas dawn before he heard it and he slowly blanched to hear How Bess the landlords daughter the landlords black eyed daughter Had watched for her love in the moonlight and died in the darkness there O back he rode like a madman shrieking a curse to the sky The white road smoking behind him his rapier brandished high Blood red were his spurs in the golden noon wine red was his velvet coat When they shot him down on the highway down like a dog on the highway He lay in his blood on the highway the bunch of lace at his throat Still of a winter's night they say when the wind is in the trees When the moon is a ghostly galleon tossed upon cloudy seas When the road is a ribbon of moonlight over the purple moor A highwayman comes riding, riding, and riding A highwayman comes riding up to the old inn door Over the cobbles he clatters and clangs in the dark Inn yard He taps with his whip on the shutters but all is locked and barred He whistles a tune to the window and who should be waiting there But the landlords black eyed daughter Bess the landlords daughter Plaiting a dark red love knot into her long black hair