Broomfield Hill
Bellowhead Lyrics

A wager, a wager, five hundred pound and ten
Someone has made a bet for 510 pounds that the singer won't be able to go to Broomfield Hill and return as a maid

That you'll not go to the Broomfield Hill and a maid return again
The bettor believes that the singer will not be able to go to Broomfield Hill and return as a maid

And oh she cried, and oh she sighed, and oh she made her moan
The singer is lamenting about whether to go to Broomfield Hill or not

Saying "shall I go to the Broomfield Hill or shall I stay at home?
The artist is debating whether to go to Broomfield Hill or stay at home

"For if I go to the Broomfield Hill, my maidenhead is gone
The artist is hesitant to go to Broomfield Hill because she fears losing her virginity

"But if I chance to stay at home, why then I am foresworn."
If she stays at home, she won't be able to fulfill the bet and will break her word

There's thirteen months all in one year, as I've heard people say
There is a belief that there are 13 months in a year

But the finest month in all the year is the very, merry month of May
May is considered the best month of the year

And up there spoke an old witch-woman, as she sits all alone
An old witch-woman is speaking

Saying, "You shall go to the Broomfield hill and a maid you shall return
The witch is telling the artist to go to Broomfield hill and come back as a maid

"For when you get to the Broomfield Hill, you will find your lover asleep
The witch predicts that the singer's lover will be sleeping at Broomfield Hill

"With his silken gown all under his head and a broom-cow at his feet
The artist's lover is depicted to be sleeping with a silken gown under his head and a broom-cow at his feet

"You take the blossom from off of the broom, the blossom that smells so sweet
The witch instructs the singer to take the blossom from the broom

"And you lay it down all under his head and more at the soles of his feet"
The singer should place the blossom under the lover's head and at the soles of his feet

And when she got to the Broomfield Hill, she found her lover asleep
The singer finds her lover sleeping when she reaches Broomfield Hill

With his hawk and his hound and his silk satin gown and his ribbons all down to his feet
The lover is surrounded by his hawk and hound, wearing a silk satin gown, and ribbons down to his feet

She's taken the blossom from off of the broom, the blossom that smells so sweet
The artist takes the blossom as instructed by the witch

And the more she lay it round about, the sounder he did sleep
Covering the lover with the blossom helps him sleep more soundly

She's taken the ribbon from off her finger and laid it at his right hand
The singer leaves a ribbon at her lover's right hand as a sign of her presence

For to let him know when he awoke that she'd been there at his command
She left the ribbon as a way of telling him that she followed his command of going to Broomfield Hill

"Oh where were you my good grey steed, that I have loved so dear?
The lover wonders why his horse did not wake him up when the artist was at Broomfield Hill

"Why did you not stamp and waken me when there was a maiden here?"
He expected his horse to wake him up when the artist came

"Oh I stamped with my feet, master, and all my bells I rang
The horse did try to wake him up by stamping its feet and ringing bells

"But there was nothing could waken you til she had been and gone"
However, nothing could wake him up until the artist left

"Oh haste, haste, my good grey steed, for to come where she may be
The lover wants his horse to go find the singer

"Or all the birds in the Broomfield Hill will eat their fill of thee."
The lover fears that if the horse takes too long, the birds in Broomfield Hill will eat him

"Oh you need not break your good grey steed by racing to her home
The horse does not need to race to find the singer

"There's no bird flies faster through the wood than she flew through the broom"
The artist is as fast as a bird flying through the woods

There's thirteen months all in one year, as I've heard people say
Repeating the same belief that there are 13 months in a year

But the finest month in all the year is the very, merry month of May
Reiterating that May is the best month of the year