Mary of the Wild Moor by Traditional Lyrics

'Twas on one cold wint'ry night
And the wind blew across the wild moor
When poor Mary came wandering home with her child
'Till she came to her own father's door
"Oh Father, dear father" she cried
"Come down and open the door
Or the child in my arms it will perish and die
By the winds that blows across the wild moor

Oh why did I leave this fair spot
Where once I was happy and free
I'm now doomed to roam without friends or a home
And no one to take pity on me."
But her father was deaf to her cries
Not a sound of her voice did he hear
So the watch dog did howl and the village bell tolled
And the wind blew across the wild moor

Oh how the old man must have felt
When he came to the door in the morn
And found Mary dead but the child still alive
Closely pressed in its dead mother's arms;
In anguish he tore his gray hair
While the tears down his cheeks they did pour;
When he saw how that night, she had perished and died
From the winds that blew across the wild moor
The old man with grief pined away
And the child to its mother went soon
And no one, they say, has been there since this day
And the cottage to ruin has gone;
But the villagers point out the spot
Where the willow droops over the door
Saying there Mary died, once a gay village bride
From the winds that blew across the wild moor