British Birdlore

The Cuckoo

THE CUCKOO'S NEST

Verse 1:

There's a corner in the meadow where the lads and lasses meet
Oh they do here what they couldn't do in the open street
They play all kinds of games there, but the one I like the best
Is where every laddie rumples up the cuckoo's nest.

Chorus:
It's high the cuckoo, low the cuckoo, high the cuckoo's nest
It's high the cuckoo, low the cuckoo, high the cuckoo's nest
I'll give any maid a shilling and a bottle of the best
Just to rumple up the feathers of her cuckoo's nest

Verse 2:

I wooed her in the morning and I had her in the night
She was my very first one so I tried to do it right
I searched around and wandered and I never would have guessed
If she hadn't showed me where to find her cuckoo's nest

Verse 3:

When she showed me where to find it I knew just where to go
Through the underbrush and brambles where the little cuckoos grow
From the moment that I found it, she would never let me rest
From rumpling up the feathers of her cuckoo's nest.

Verse 4:

It was bushy, it was prickled, it was feathered all around
It was tucked away so neatly and it wasn't easy found
She said young man you're blundering, but I knew it wasn't true
For I left her with the makings of a young cuckoo

THE CUCKOO (33)

1 The cuckoo is a pretty bird,

She singeth as she flies; She bringeth us good tidings,

She telleth us no lies; She sucketh all sweet flowers

To keep her throttle clear, And every time she singeth Cuckoo-cuckoo-cuckoo!

The summer draweth near.

2   The cuckoo is a giddy bird,

No other is as she, That flits across the meadow,

That sings in every tree. A nest she never buildeth,

A vagrant she doth roam; Her music is but tearful— Cuckoo-cuckoo-cuckoo!

" I nowhere have a home."

3   The cuckoo is a witty bird,

Arriving with the spring. When summer suns are waning

She spreadeth wide her wing. She flies th'approaching winter,

She hates the rain and snow; Like her, I would be singing, Cuckoo-cuckoo-cuckoo !

And off with her I'd go!