• When in the springtime
of the year •
• When the trees
are crowned with leaves •
• When the ash
and oak, and the birch and yew •
• Are dressed
in ribbons fair •
• When owls call
the breathless moon •
• In the blue
veil of the night •
• The shadows
of the trees appear •
• Amidst the lantern
light •
• We've been rambling
all the night •
• And some time
of this day •
• Now returning
back again •
• We bring a garland
gay •
• Who will go down
to those shady groves •
• And summon the
shadows there •
• And tie a ribbon
on those sheltering arms •
• In the springtime
of the year •
• The songs of
birds seem to fill the wood •
• That when the
fiddler plays •
• All their voices
can be heard •
• Long past their
woodland days •
• We've been rambling
all the night •
• And some time
of this day •
• Now returning
back again •
• We bring a garland
gay •
• And so they linked
their hands and danced •
• Round in circles
and in rows •
• And so the journey
of the night descends •
• When all the
shades are gone •
"A garland gay
we bring you here •
• And at your
door we stand •
• It is a sprout
well budded out •
• The work of
Our Lord's hand" •
• We've been rambling
all the night •
• And some time
of this day •
• Now returning
back again •
• We bring a garland
gay •
• We've been rambling
all the night •
• And some time
of this day •
• Now returning
back again •
• We bring a garland
gay •
•••
Music and Lyrics by Loreena McKennitt •••
"Nadine"
by Meilin Wong
