John Barleycorn Must Die

Lyrics

[Verse 1] There were three men came out of the west Their fortune for to try And these three men made a solemn vow John Barleycorn must die [Verse 2] They've plowed, they've sown, they've harrowed him in Threw clods upon his head And these three men made a solemn vow John Barleycorn was dead [Verse 3] They've let him lie for a very long time 'Til the rains from heavеn did fall And little sir John sprung up his head And so amazed thеm all [Verse 4] They've let him stand 'til Midsummer's Day 'Til he looked both pale and wan And little sir John's grown a long, long beard And so became a man [Verse 5] They've hired men with scythes so sharp To cut him off at the knee They've rolled him and tied him by the waist Serving him most barbarously [Verse 6] They've hired men with the sharp pitchforks Who pricked him to the heart And the loader's served him worse than that For he's bound him to a cart [Verse 7] They're hired men with the crab tree sticks To cut him skin from bone And the miller served him worse than that For he's ground him between two stones [Verse 8] Little sir John in a nut brown bowl And brandy in the glass And little sir John in the nut brown bowl Proved the strongest man and lass [Verse 9] For the huntsman, he can't hunt the fox Nor so loudly blow his horn And the tinker, he can't make kettle or pot Without little Barleycorn