Fairport Convention Jack O'rion Lyrics:
Jack O'Rion was the finest fiddler ever fiddled on
the string He could drive young ladies wild with a
tune his wires would sing He could fiddle the fish
out of salt water, water from a marble stone Or
milk from out a maiden's breast though baby she
had none There he played in the castle hall and
there he played them fast asleep Except it was for
the young countess who, for love, she stayed awake
So first he played her a slow air and then he
played it brisk and gay And oh, dear love, behind
her glove, this lady she did say "Ere the day has
dawned and the cocks have crowed and flapped their
wings so wide It's you must come to my chamber
there and lie down by my side" So he wrapped his
fiddle in a cloth of green and he stole out on his
a-tip-a-toe And he's off back to his young boy Tom
as fast as he could go "Ere the day has dawned and
the cocks have crowed and flapped their wings so
wide I'm bid to go to the lady's door and stretch
out by her side" "Lie down, lie down, my good
master, here's a blanket to your hand And I'll
waken you in as good a time as any cock in this
land" Now Tom took the fiddle into his hand, he
fiddled and he played for a full hour Until he
played him fast asleep; he's off to the lady's
bower And when he came to her chamber door, he
twirled softly at the pin The lady, true to her
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promise, rose up and let him in He did not take
that lady gay to bolster nor to bed But down upon
the hard cold floor right soon he had her laid And
he did not kiss her when he came nor yet but from
her he did go But in out the lady's bedroom
window, the moon like a coal did glow "Ragged are
your stockings, love, and stubbly is your cheek
and chin And tousled is that yellow hair that I
saw yestereve" "These stockings belong to my boy
Tom, they were the first came to my hand The wind
must have tousled my yellow hair and I rode over
the land" Now Tom took the fiddle into his hand,
he fiddled and he played so saucily He's off back
to his master's house as fast as go could he "Wake
up, wake up, oh my good master, why snore you
there so loud? There's not a cock in all this land
but has clapped his wings and crowed" Jack O'Rion
took the fiddle into his hand and he fiddled and
he played so merrily He's off away to the lady's
house as fast as go could he And when he came to
the lady's door, he twirled so softly at the pin
Saying "Oh, my dear, it's your true love, rise up
and let me in" She said "Surely you didn't leave
behind a golden brooch nor a velvet glove Or are
you returning back again to taste more of my
love?" Jack O'Rion, he swore a bloody oath, by
oak, by ash, by bitter thorn "Lady, I never was in
your house since the day that I was born" "Oh,
then it was your young boy Tom that cruelly has
beguiled me" "Oh woe, that the blood of that
ruffian boy did spring in my body" Jack O'Rion
sped off to his own house, saying "Tom, my boy,
come here to me" He hung him from his own
gatepost, high as a willow tree
Lyrics: Jack O'rion, Fairport Convention [end]