The Hern

Adapted from ‘Lully lulley, lully lulley! Þe fawcon hath born my mak away’ in Richard Hill’s Commonplace Book, anonymous, c. 1500

The hern flew east, the hern flew west,
Lully-lullay, lully-lullay.
She bore her o’er the fair forest:
The falcon hath borne my mate away.

She bore her o’er the meadows green,
Lully-lullay, lully-lullay,
All to espy what might be seen.
The falcon hath borne my mate away.

Oh, then she saw an orchard fair,
Lully-lullay, lully-lullay,
Where grow’th the apple and the pear.
The falcon hath borne my mate away.

And in that orchard stands a hall,
Lully-lullay, lully-lullay,
Was clad all o’er with purple and pall.
The falcon hath borne my mate away.

And in that hall there stands a bower,
Lully-lullay, lully-lullay,
Was covered o’er with periwink flower.
The falcon hath borne my mate away.

Beneath that bower there stands a bed,
Lully-lullay, lully-lullay,
With silken sheets of gold so red.
The falcon hath borne my mate away.

And in that bed there lies a knight,
Lully-lullay, lully-lullay,
Whose wounds do bleed both day and night.
The falcon hath borne my mate away.

Under that bed there runs a flood,
Lully-lullay, lully-lullay,
One half runs water, the other runs blood.
The falcon hath borne my mate away.

By the bedside there stands a stone,
Lully-lullay, lully-lullay,
A leal maiden was sat thereon.
The falcon hath borne my mate away.

With silver needle and silken thread,
Lully-lullay, lully-lullay,
She stems the wounds where they do bleed.
The falcon hath borne my mate away.