Elf Call

[ Roud 3723 ; Child 40 ; Ballad Index C040 ; trad.]

Steeleye Span sang Elf Call on their 1975 album Commoners Crown; this track was also included on their anthology Original Masters.

The Australian label Festival Records produced an edited single version with a different start and fade out. The single was used for Steeleye's 1975 Tour and was not released outside Australia. However, the edited track was later reissued on the Australian compilation Recollections, and in 1999 it was finally available worldwide on the CD A Rare Collection 1972-1996.

Lyrics

I heard a bonny cow low, cow low, cow low,
I heard a bonny cow low over the lea.
And it was an elf-call, elf-call, elf-call,
And it was an elf-call calling unto me.
And the little elf-call, elf-call, elf-call,
And the little elf-call said unto me:

Chorus:: “Come and nurse an elf child, elf child, elf child,
Come and nurse an elf child down beneath the sea.
Come and nurse an elf child, elf child, elf child,
Come and nurse an elf child down beneath the sea.”

“What do you moan for, moan for, moan for,
What do you moan for?” the elf king said to me.
“I'm moaning for my own child, own child, own child,
I'm moaning for my own child far across the sea.”
Then the little elf king, elf king, elf king,
Then the little elf king said unto me:

Chorus

Repeat first verse

Chorus (x2)

Acknowledgements

Thanks to Patrick Montague for correcting the lyrics.