The chalk downs stand as they have stood
unchanged for year on year on year
Where grass grows lush as any could
and lays an emerald veneer
Where you may wander where you would
no hedge or gate to interfere
'cept the occasional copse or wood
that punctuates this green frontier
The sky is cerulean blue
The scanty clouds are whispy white
The sun shines with a brazen hue
and bathes the downs with heat and light
The air is noisily shot through
with buzzing from the bees in flight
and skylarks soar beyond our view
to play their flutes for our delight
High on these humpbacked hills of chalk
the aimless sheep may safely graze
No predators among them stalk
and they keep all the lambs they raise
For with the sheep the shepherds walk
to keep them safe and rescue strays
The only price paid by the flock?
The fleece that's shorn on late spring days
O'er all the downs the shepherd's king
and rules the land in any weather
Through burning sun or hailstone's sting
Counting his sheep with Yan Tan Tether
No golden crown or pearly string
just homespun cloth and boots of leather
With magic from a faery ring
the king holds court among the heather
and rules the land in any weather
Through burning sun or hailstone's sting
Counting his sheep with Yan Tan Tether
No golden crown or pearly string
just homespun cloth and boots of leather
With magic from a faery ring
the king holds court among the heather
Yan Tan Tether is an old English counting scheme