Charted: 1998 Peaked at #18 Warner -- 17241 From the album "The Book Of Secrets" B-Side "The Mummers' Dance" (album version) / "The Mystic's Dream"
When in the springtime of the year When the trees are crowned with leaves When the ash and oak and the birch and yew Are dressed in ribbons fair
When owls call the breathless moon In the blue veil of the night When shadows of the trees appear Amidst the lantern light
Chorus: We've been rambling all the night And sometime of this day Now returning back again We bring a garland gay
Who will go down to the shady groves And summon the shadows there And tie a ribbon on those sheltering arms In the springtime of the year
The sounds of birds seem to fill the wood And when the fiddler plays All their voices can be heard Long past their woodland days
Chorus
So they linked their hands and danced 'Round in circles and in rows And so the journey of the night descends When all the shades are gone
A garland gay we bring you here And at your door we stand Here's a sprout, well budded out The work of our Lord's hand
Chorus x 2