Lyrics (15th Century English)
Translation
In Aprell and in May,
In the months of April and May
When hartes be all mery,
When all hearts are merry,
Besse Bunting, the millaris may,
Bessie Bunting, the miller's girl,
Withe lippes so red as chery,
With lips red as cherries -
She cast in hir remembrance
She recalls to mind
To passe hir time in daliance
She should spend her time in love-making
And to leve hir thought driery.
And leave dreary thoughts behind her.
Right womanly arayd
In her maidenly dress,
In a peticote of whit,
In a petticoat white,
She was nothing dismayd -
Nothing dismayed her:
Hir countenance was full light.
Her countenance was light.