When I lived with my father
as an apprentice shepherd,
he sent me to the moor
to look after the sheep.
Sheep, sheep,
I had but a few.
Sheep, sheep,
I had none that were bonny.
No, I had but a few,
I had but three lambs;
and the wolf from the plain
ate the finest of those.
Sheep, sheep, …
He was so ravenous
he left only the pelt,
he left only the tail
to put on my hat.
Sheep, sheep, …
But the bones of the animal
made me pipe
to play at the fair,
at the village fair.
Sheep, sheep, …
So the village could dance
beneath the great elm,
young women and old
with clogs on their feet.
Sheep, sheep, …