[00:45]The wind was a torrent of darkness among the gusty trees. [00:51]The moon was a ghostly galleon tossed upon the cloudy seas. [00:57]The road was a ribbon of moonlight over the purple moor. [01:03]And the highwayman came riding,riding, riding, [01:08]The highwayman came riding, up to the old inn-door. [01:14]He'd a French cocked hat on his forehead, a bunch of lace at his chin, [01:20]A coat of claret velvet, and breeches of brown doe-skin; [01:26]They fitted with never a wrinkle; his boots were up to the thigh! [01:31]And he rode with a jewelled twinkle. [01:33]His pistol butts a-twinkle,His rapier hilt a-twinkle, under the jewelled sky. [01:43]Over the cobbles he clattered and clashed in the dark innyard, [01:48]And he tapped with his whip on the shutters, but all was locked and barred; [01:54]He whistled a tune to the window, and who should be waiting there? [01:59]But the landlord's black-eyed daughter, [02:02]Bess, the landlord's daughter, plaiting a dark red love-knot into her long black hair. [02:12]"One kiss, my bonny sweetheart, I'm after a prize tonight, [02:17]But I shall be back with the yellow gold before the morning light; [02:22]Yet if they press me sharply, and harry me through the day, [02:27]Then look for me by the moonlight, watch for me by the moonlight, [02:33]I'll come to thee by the moonlight, though hell should bar the way. [02:40]He rose upright in the stirrups; he scarce could reach her hand. [02:45]But she loosened her hair in the casement! His face burnt like a brand. [02:50]As the black cascade of perfume came tumbling over his breast; [02:56]And he kissed its waves in the moonlight, [02:59](Oh, sweet black waves in the moonlight!) [03:02]Then he tugged at his rein in the moonlight, and galloped away to the west. [03:31]He did not come at the dawning; he did not come at noon. [03:37]And out of the tawny sunset, before the rise of the moon, [03:42]When the road was a gypsy's ribbon, looping the purple moor, [03:47]A red-coat troop came marching, marching, marching [03:53]King George's men came marching, up to the old inn-door. [03:59]They said no word to the landlord, they drank his ale instead, [04:05]But they gagged his daughter and bound her to the foot of her narrow bed; [04:10]Two of them knelt at the casement, with muskets at their side! [04:16]there was death at every window, hell at one dark window; [04:21]For Bess could see, through the casement, [04:24]The road that he would ride. [04:28]They had tied her up to attention, with many a sniggering jest; [04:34]They had bound a musket beside her, with the barrel beneath her breast! [04:39]"now keep good watch!" And they kissed her. [04:42]She heard the dead man say [04:45]"Look for me by the moonlight. Watch for me by the moonlight [04:50]I'll kome to thee by the moonlight, though hell should bar the way!" [04:57]She twisted her hands behind her, but all the knots held good! [05:02]She writhed her hands till her fingers were wet with sweat or blood! [05:07]They stretched and strained in the darkness and the hours crawled by like years! [05:12]Till, now, on the stroke of midnight, [05:17]Cold, on the stroke of midnight, [05:19]The tip of one finger touched it!The trigger at least was hers! [05:35]Tlot-tlot! Had they heard it? The horse-hoofs were ringing clear. [05:41]Tlot-tlot, in the distance! Were they deaf that they did not hear? [05:47]Down the ribbon of moonlight, over the brow of the hill, [05:52]The highwayman came riding, riding, riding! [05:58]The red-coats looked to their priming!She stood up straight and still! [06:05]Tlot in the frosty silence! Tlot, in the echoing night! [06:11]Nearer he came and nearer! Her face was like a light! [06:16]Her eyes grew wide for a moment! She drew one last deep breath, [06:21]Then her finger moved in the moonlight. Her musket shattered the moonlight [06:27]shattered her breast in the moonlight and warned him with her death. [06:33]He turned; he spurred to the west; he did not know she stood [06:38]bowed, with her head o'er the musket, drenched with her own red blood! [06:44]Not till the dawn he heard it; his face grew grey to hear. [06:49]How Bess, the landlord's daughter, [06:52]The landlord's black-eyed daughter, [06:55]Had watched for her love in the moonlight, and died in the darkness there. [07:01]And back, he spurred like a madman, shrieking a curse to the sky. [07:07]With the white road smoking behind him and his rapier brandished high! [07:12]Blood-red were the spurs in the golden moon; wine-red was his velvet coat, [07:17]when they shot him down on the highway;Down like a dog on the highway [07:23]And he lay in his blood on the highway, with the bunch of lace at his throat. [07:45]Still of a winter's night, they say, when the wind is in the trees, [07:50]When the moon is a ghostly galleon, tossed upon the cloudy seas, [07:56]When the road is a ribbon of moonlight over the purple moor, [08:02]A highwayman comes riding, riding, riding, [08:07]A highwayman comes riding, up to the old inn-door.
[00:45]The wind was a torrent of darkness among the gusty trees. [00:51]The moon was a ghostly galleon tossed upon the cloudy seas. [00:57]The road was a ribbon of moonlight over the purple moor. [01:03]And the highwayman came riding,riding, riding, [01:08]The highwayman came riding, up to the old inn-door. [01:14]He'd a French cocked hat on his forehead, a bunch of lace at his chin, [01:20]A coat of claret velvet, and breeches of brown doe-skin; [01:26]They fitted with never a wrinkle; his boots were up to the thigh! [01:31]And he rode with a jewelled twinkle. [01:33]His pistol butts a-twinkle,His rapier hilt a-twinkle, under the jewelled sky. [01:43]Over the cobbles he clattered and clashed in the dark innyard, [01:48]And he tapped with his whip on the shutters, but all was locked and barred; [01:54]He whistled a tune to the window, and who should be waiting there? [01:59]But the landlord's black-eyed daughter, [02:02]Bess, the landlord's daughter, plaiting a dark red love-knot into her long black hair. [02:12]"One kiss, my bonny sweetheart, I'm after a prize tonight, [02:17]But I shall be back with the yellow gold before the morning light; [02:22]Yet if they press me sharply, and harry me through the day, [02:27]Then look for me by the moonlight, watch for me by the moonlight, [02:33]I'll come to thee by the moonlight, though hell should bar the way. [02:40]He rose upright in the stirrups; he scarce could reach her hand. [02:45]But she loosened her hair in the casement! His face burnt like a brand. [02:50]As the black cascade of perfume came tumbling over his breast; [02:56]And he kissed its waves in the moonlight, [02:59](Oh, sweet black waves in the moonlight!) [03:02]Then he tugged at his rein in the moonlight, and galloped away to the west. [03:31]He did not come at the dawning; he did not come at noon. [03:37]And out of the tawny sunset, before the rise of the moon, [03:42]When the road was a gypsy's ribbon, looping the purple moor, [03:47]A red-coat troop came marching, marching, marching [03:53]King George's men came marching, up to the old inn-door. [03:59]They said no word to the landlord, they drank his ale instead, [04:05]But they gagged his daughter and bound her to the foot of her narrow bed; [04:10]Two of them knelt at the casement, with muskets at their side! [04:16]there was death at every window, hell at one dark window; [04:21]For Bess could see, through the casement, [04:24]The road that he would ride. [04:28]They had tied her up to attention, with many a sniggering jest; [04:34]They had bound a musket beside her, with the barrel beneath her breast! [04:39]"now keep good watch!" And they kissed her. [04:42]She heard the dead man say [04:45]"Look for me by the moonlight. Watch for me by the moonlight [04:50]I'll kome to thee by the moonlight, though hell should bar the way!" [04:57]She twisted her hands behind her, but all the knots held good! [05:02]She writhed her hands till her fingers were wet with sweat or blood! [05:07]They stretched and strained in the darkness and the hours crawled by like years! [05:12]Till, now, on the stroke of midnight, [05:17]Cold, on the stroke of midnight, [05:19]The tip of one finger touched it!The trigger at least was hers! [05:35]Tlot-tlot! Had they heard it? The horse-hoofs were ringing clear. [05:41]Tlot-tlot, in the distance! Were they deaf that they did not hear? [05:47]Down the ribbon of moonlight, over the brow of the hill, [05:52]The highwayman came riding, riding, riding! [05:58]The red-coats looked to their priming!She stood up straight and still! [06:05]Tlot in the frosty silence! Tlot, in the echoing night! [06:11]Nearer he came and nearer! Her face was like a light! [06:16]Her eyes grew wide for a moment! She drew one last deep breath, [06:21]Then her finger moved in the moonlight. Her musket shattered the moonlight [06:27]shattered her breast in the moonlight and warned him with her death. [06:33]He turned; he spurred to the west; he did not know she stood [06:38]bowed, with her head o'er the musket, drenched with her own red blood! [06:44]Not till the dawn he heard it; his face grew grey to hear. [06:49]How Bess, the landlord's daughter, [06:52]The landlord's black-eyed daughter, [06:55]Had watched for her love in the moonlight, and died in the darkness there. [07:01]And back, he spurred like a madman, shrieking a curse to the sky. [07:07]With the white road smoking behind him and his rapier brandished high! [07:12]Blood-red were the spurs in the golden moon; wine-red was his velvet coat, [07:17]when they shot him down on the highway;Down like a dog on the highway [07:23]And he lay in his blood on the highway, with the bunch of lace at his throat. [07:45]Still of a winter's night, they say, when the wind is in the trees, [07:50]When the moon is a ghostly galleon, tossed upon the cloudy seas, [07:56]When the road is a ribbon of moonlight over the purple moor, [08:02]A highwayman comes riding, riding, riding, [08:07]A highwayman comes riding, up to the old inn-door.
