Crazy Jane (n.d.)/Ere Around the Huge Oak

For other versions of this work, see Ere Around the Huge Oak.

ERE AROUND THE HUGE OAK

Ere around the huge oak, that o’ershadows yon mill
The fond ivy had dar’d to entwine;
Ere the church was a ruin, that nods on the hill,
Or a rook built its nest on the pine.
Could I trace back the time to a far distant date,
Since my forefather’s toil’d in this field;
And the farm I now hold on your honour’s estate,
Is the same that my grandfather toil’d.

Ho, dying, bequeath'd to his son a good name.

Which unsullied descended to me;
For my child I've preserv'd it, unblemish’d by shame
And it still from a spot shall be free.