"I left behind me the quilts of blue;
My children lie on the straw ye strew.

"I left behind me the great wax light;
My children lie in the dark at night.

"If I come again into your hall,
As cruel a fate shall you befall!

"Now crows the cock with feathers red,
Back to the earth must all the dead.

"Now crows the cock with feathers swart;
The gates of heaven fly wide apart.

"Now crows the cock with feathers white;
I can abide no longer to-night."

Whenever they heard the watch-dogs wail,
They gave the children bread and ale.

Whenever they heard the watch-dogs bay,
They feared lest the dead were on their way.

Whenever they heard the watch-dogs bark,
_I myself was young._
They feared the dead out there in the dark.
_Fair words gladden so many a heart._