Text: Barclay James Harvest. Ballad Of Denshaw Mill.

Mother and child, mother and
Just the mother and child

On a cold starry night in the winter time
Stood three old men by a mill pond in the moonlight
And they spoke of the young men on the front line
How they all wished them home for the Christmas time

As they spoke from the east came a bright light
And it sparkled like pure gold in their sad eyes
And an angel came down on Denshaw Mill
Spreading her light all around on the dark side

Are you blind can you not see?
Do you think that it's me who deceives?
He promised to be there if you believe
To carry you home

A hole as rotten as ever fouled the green earth
"Was this old mill in its day", spoke the angel
Yet, there's many a poor boy in foreign climes
Who would think this old mill now a palace fine

As she spoke from the mill who came laughter
Came the warm sounds of the young men like a summer breeze
And they rose in the night like fire bright
Spreading their light all around on the dark side

Are you blind can you not see?
Do you think that it's me who deceives?
He promised to be there if you believe
To carry you home

No one knows what became of the bonny lads
Posted missing, lost in action in a far land
Fools and heroes, gallant men, now side by side
With the old men who believed they came home that night
To the warmth of their homes at Christmas time

To the peace of their homes at Christmas time