The cuckoo is a funny bird she sings as she flies She'll bring you glad tidings she'll tell you no lies She sips from the pretty flowers to make her voice clear And she'll never sing cuckoo till the spring of the year
A-walking and a-talking and a-wondering go I A-walking for my true love he'll come by and by I'll meet him in the morning for he's all my delight I could walk with my true love from morning to night
Come all you fair maidens take warning from me Don't place your affection on a young man too free For leaves they do wither and roots they do die And your love he will leave you and he'll never say why
But if he will leave me I'll not be forlorn And if he'll forswear me I'll not be forsworn I'll get myself up in my best finery And I'll walk as proud by him as he walks by me