Hallowe'en Cheer.
When the apples are all gathered,
And the chestnut trees are bare;
When there's frost upon the garden,
And a chillness in the air,
While a breath of early winter
Finds the meadows brown and sere,
Comes the welcome time for keeping
Glad the Halloweven cheer.
I recall when I, a laddie,
With a band of comrades bold,
Played such pranks as older people
Little less than crime would hold.
Gates there were that wanted owners,
Signboards scattered far and hear,
After we had kept at midnight
Thus the Halloweven cheer.
'Twas an autumn night and cloudless,
With a full moon in the sky,
That I won love's precious promise
From my sweetheart, fair and shy.
She had heard the mystic wisdom
Of the waters of the meer;
There she sought her lover's picture
'Mid the Halloweven cheer.
Seeing her I quickly hastened
From the shadow of the wood
And, reflected in the water,
She beheld me where I stood.
Then I told the olden story
In love's language, low and clear;
Asked the hand the fates had pledged me
'Mid the Halloweven cheer.
