A Sheep-Shearing Song (Now That the Spring) (mp3 Sample)

Traditional

Lyrics

Now that the Spring hath filled our veins

With kind and active fire,

And made green liveries for the plains,

And every grove a choir;


Sing we this song with mirth and merry glee,

And Bacchus crown the bowl.

And here's to thee! And thou to me

And every thirsty soul.


Shear sheep that have them, cry we still,

And see that none escape

To take off the sherry that makes us so merry,

And plump as a lusty grape.

About the Song

This is one of four songs on the album that were not penned by Shakespeare. Frankly we are not sure who wrote the lyrics, but we found them attached to a canon written by John Hilton.

The song became associated with Shakespeare (in our experience, at least) at Winedale in 1994, when assistant director Madge Darlington encouraged its use as a backdrop to the festive sheep-shearing scene in A Winter's Tale. It has since been used in other Winedale productions and became a song sung by the students as a warm-up.

We include it here because we like it, and even if it is not a Shakespeare song, we think it should be.

Track Info

Lyrics traditional.

Music by John Hilton.

Arranged by Dog Legs & Feet.

Musicians: