THE FAIRYS FAREWELL.
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At morning and at evening both You merry were and glad,So little care of sleep and sloth, These pretty ladies had.When Tom came home from labour, Or Ciss to milking rose,Then merrily went their tabour, And nimbly went their toes.
Witness those rings and roundelays Of theirs, which yet remain;Were footed in queen Marys days On many a grassy plain.But since of late Elizabeth, And later James came in,They never danced on any heath, As when the time hath bin.
By which we note the fairies Were of the old profession;Their songs were Ave Maries, Their dances were procession.But now, alas! they all are dead, Or gone beyond the seas,Or farther for religion fled, Or else to take their ease.
