The Highwayman

The wind was a torrent of darkness
Among the gusty trees
Moon was a ghostly galleon
Tossed upon cloudy seas

And the road was a ribbon of moonlight
Over the purple moor
When the highwayman came riding, riding, riding
Yes, the highwayman came riding
Up to the old inn door

And over the cobbles he clattered
And clashed in the dark inn yard
He cracked with his whip on the window
But all was locked and barred

So he whistled a tune to the window
Who should be waiting there
But the landlord's black-eyed daughter
Bess the landlord's daughter
Plaiting a dark red love knot
Into her long black hair

Now one kiss, my bonny sweetheart
For I'm after a prize tonight
And I shall be back with the yellow gold
Before the morning light

Yet if they press me sharply
And harry me through the day
Oh, then look for me by moonlight
Watch for me by moonlight
And I'll come to thee by moonlight
Though hell should bar the way

No, he did not come at the dawning
He did not come at the noon
And out of the tawny sunset
Before the rise of the moon

When the road was a gypsy's ribbon
Looping the purple moor
Oh, a redcoat troop came marching, marching, marching
King George's men came marching
Up to the old inn door

And they bound the landlord's daughter
With many a sniggering jest
And they bound the musket beside her
With the barrel beneath her breast

Now take good watch and they kissed her
She heard the dead man say
"Oh, look for me by moonlight
Watch for me by moonlight
And I'll come to thee by moonlight
Though hell should bar the way"

Mm, look for me by moonlight
Hoof beats ringing clear
Watch for me by moonlight
For they deaf that they did not hear

For he rode on the gypsy highway
She breathe one final breath
And her finger moved in the moonlight
Her musket shattered the moonlight
And it shattered her breast in the moonlight
And warned him with her death

He spurred on, yes, to the west
For he did not know who stood
Bowed with her black hair a-flowin' down
Drenched in her own red blood

It was, not 'til the dawn that he heard it
And his face grew gray to hear
How Bess the landlord's daughter
The landlord's black-eyed daughter
Had watched for her love in the moonlight
And died in the darkness there

Was then he spurred on like a madman
Shrieking a curse to the sky
With the white road smoking behind him
And his rapier brandished high

Blood-red were his spurs in the golden moon
Wine red his velvet coat
When they shot him down on the highway
Down like a dog on the highway
And he lay in his blood on the highway
With a bunch of lace at his throat

But still on a winter's night they say
When the wind is in the trees
When the moon is a ghostly galleon
Tossed upon cloudy seas

When the road is a ribbon of highway
Looping the purple moor
Oh, the highwayman comes riding, riding, riding
Yes, the highwayman comes riding
Up to the old inn door