By the moon we sport and play,
With the night begins our day;
As we dance, the dew doth fall—
Trip it, little Urchins all,
Lightly as the little bee,
Two by two, and three by three;
And about go we! And about go we!
Oh, you must needs dance and sing,
Which if you refuse to do,
We will pinch you black and blue;
And about go we!
Round about, round about, in a fine ring-a,
Thus we dance, thus we dance, and thus we sing-a;
Trip and go, to and fro, over this green-a,
All about, in and out, for our brave Queen-a.
We have danced round about, in a fine ring-a,
We have danced lustily, and thus we sing-a;
All about, in and out, over this green-a,
To and fro, trip and go, to our brave Queen-a.
The Maydes Metamorphosis (1600)