The Cuckoo - Anne Briggs

The cuckoo's a pretty bird she sings as she flies

She brings us good tidings tells us no lies

She sucks the little birds' eggs to keep her voice clear

And when she sings cuckoo the summer draws near

As I walked down by the side of a bush

I heard two birds whistling the blackbird and the thrush

I asked them the reason so merry they be

And the answer they gave me

We are single and we are free

A-walking a-talking a-walking was I

To meet my true lover he'll come by and by

To meet him in the meadows is all my delight

A-walking and talking from morning till night

Meeting is pleasure but parting is a grief

And an inconstant lover is worse than a thief

A thief can but rob me and take all I have

But an inconstant lover sends me to the grave

And the grave it will rot me and bring me to dust

An inconstant lover no maiden can trust

They'll court you and kiss you and vow they'll be true

And the very next moment they'll bid you adieu

The cuckoo's a pretty bird she sings as she flies

She brings us glad tidings tells us no lies

And when her time is come her voice we don't hear

And where she goes we do not know until another year