'Twas in the pleasant month of May
In the springtime of the year
And down by yonder meadow
There runs a river clear
See how the little fishes
How they do sport and play
Causes many a lad and many a lass
To go there a-making hay

Then in comes that scythesman
That meadow to now down
With his old leathered bottle
And the ale that runs so brown
There's many a stout and a labouring man
Goes there his skill to try
He works, he mows, he sweats, he blows
And the grass comes very dry

Then in comes both Tom and Dick
With their pitchforks and their rakes
And likewise black-eyed Susan
The hay all for to make
There's a sweet, sweet, sweet and a jug, jug, jug
How the harmless birds do sing
From the morning to the evening
As we were a-haymaking

It was just at one evening
As the sun was a-going down
We saw the jolly piper
Come a-strolling through the town
There he pulled out his tapering pipes
And he made the valleys ring
So we all put down our rakes and forks
And we left off haymaking

We called for a dance
And we tripped it along
We danced all round the haycocks
'Til the rising of the sun
When the sun did shine such a glorious light
How the harmless birds did sing
Each lad he took his lass in hand
And went back to his haymaking