O once I was a shepherd's boy

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O once I was a shepherd boy

Roud 2407

collected from Shepherd Hayden by Cecil Sharp, Bampton, Oxfordshire, 6th September 1909

  1. O once I was a shepherd boy
    Kept sheep on Compton Down
    Twas about two miles from Ilsley
    It was called a market town

    With my fol de rol, O the riddle oddy O
    With my fol de rol i day

  2. And in the morn when we do rise
    And daylight do appear
    Our breakfast we do get
    To our fold we all do steer

  3. And when we gets to our sheepfold
    We merrily pitched him round
    And all the rest part of the day
    We sailed the downs all round

  4. And when we gets up on the downs
    Gazing ourselves all round
    We see the storm is rising
    And coming on all round

  5. And now the storm is coming on
    The rain fast down do fall
    neither limb nor tree to shelter me
    I must stand and take it all

  6. And there we stand in our wet clothes
    A-shining and shaking with cold
    We dare not go to shift ourselves
    Till we drive our sheep to fold

  7. And now the storm is over
    And that you may plainly see
    I’ll never keep sheep on the downs any more
    For there’s neither a limb nor tree

Cecil Sharp MSS, Folk Words


Alfred Williams also noted the words of this song from Hayden, as "On Compton Downs"