And so they passed from Farthinghoe
When morning broke across the plain,
And like the pilgrims of long ago,
They took the onward road again
To other hamlets far away
Where they might beg, or steal or borrow
For strolling mountebanks were they,
And here today and gone tomorrow.
And all the folk of kindly heart
Sped on their way the motley show,
Save one small maid who stole apart
To shed a tear for Romeo.
But comrades of so short a stay
Can part with but a fleeting sorrow,
For strolling mountebanks were they,
And here today and gone tomorrow.
Strolling mountebanks were they
Who halted here a day.
And so this troupe of mountebanks
They passed ‘way o’er the plain
By Winchester and Wessex Weald,
In sun, in wind and rain.