Up the airy mountain
Down the rushy glen, We dare n’t go a-hunting,
For fear of little men; Wee folk, good folk,
Trooping all together; Green jacket, red cap,
And white owl’s feather. Down along the rocky shore
Some make their home, They live on crispy pancakes
Of yellow tide-foam; Some in the reeds
Of the black mountain-lake, With frogs for their watch-dogs,
All night awake.
High on the hill-top
The old King sits; He is now so old and gray
He’s nigh lost his wits. With a bridge of white mist
Columbkill he crosses, On his stately journeys
From Slieveleague to Rosses; Or going up with music,
On cold starry nights, To sup with the Queen,
Of the gay Northern Lights.