Lady Howard's Coach

For an unhappy Halloween hit play button below …

My ladye hath a sable coach,
And horses two and four;
My ladye hath a black blood-hound
That runneth on before.
My ladye’s coach hath nodding plumes,
The driver hath no head;
My ladye is an ashen white,
As one that long is dead.
“Now pray step in,” my ladye saith,
“Now pray step in and ride.”
I thank thee, I had rather walk
Than gather by thy side.
The wheels go round without a sound
Or tramp or turn of wheels;
As cloud at night, in pale moonlight,
Along the carriage steals.
I’d rather walk a hundred miles
And run by night and day
Than have the carriage halt for me
And hear the ladye say:
“Now pray step in, and make no din,
Step in with me and ride;
There’s room I trow, by me for you,
And all the world beside.”
Lyrics collected by the Reverend Sabine Baring-Gould, Songs of the West 1891.
Song recorded by Bill Johnson and myself many moons ago.