The Angel and the Shepherd Boy -
Robin Walker

Song Making

The full text of the song

John story,
Shepherd- boy I love,
Tender of sheep
You Held so dear.
Helm winds in March
Still cloud that eastern fell:
Now old
I'll fold you
In my arms

John Story,
Tell me as it was with you
The shepherd boy.

It were dark,
And I was half-scared
You went and looked
At them at midnight.

You had to stand and listen
You would hear one muttering on,
The sound of it giving birth;
It's motherliness

Tell me, John
Tell me of the wind,
The helm wind
From the east.

You get this wind,
What they call 'The Helm'
The helm wind blows in March,
There's a white bar of cloud
Along that eastern fell
Thing is blowing-
Roaring like a train.

A white-un'll blow
For three days-
If it don't break'll blow
For nine days
Things is blowing-
Roaring like a train
Down the line
In a dry time,
With that East wind on,
They went over their time.
Lambs keep on growing
For all they're in the ewe.

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It's not nature
To lamb in dry weather,
Cold and dry
When that east wind was on.

And then there come a wet night.
You looked at them at midnight
If nothing going on
You could go to bed.
But you'd to be up again
At three O'clock
If it rained or snowed
There was a multitude of lambs
A hell-of-a-carry-on there was for lambs!

John, John Story,
You have loved the land
And shepherded your flock.
The land you loved
Is better for you and your care.

Is was in me,
Bred in me.
Wildlife and motherliness;
These things were in you.

It was in you,
You did it,
And you thought nothing about it.

Something in me;
A way of life:
Wildlife and motherliness.

John Story,
Shepherd-boy I love,
Tender of sheep
You loved so dear
Helm winds in March
Still cloud that eastern Fell:
Now old
I'll fold you in my arms.

By Robin Walker
May 2005

The Angel and the Shepherd Boy - Robin Walker

The Angel and the Shepherd Boy -
Robin Walker