Lyrics

THE DOWNS

Oh gentle hills that steal my gaze
Whose calendar glows on every page
The autumn hues the summer’s sun
The spring’s return when winter’s done

If snow’s a shroud upon the down
Then Chanctonbury stands as like a crown
Whilst rivers flow in channels deep
Their passing silent as one who sleeps

Follow the path into the hills
Passed hawth and briar and skylark’s trills
Passed flinted fields speckled and green
And poppies to remember sights unseen

In sanctified grounds knurled yew trees stand
To guard the rites of ancient land
While churches nestle within the folds
And hilltop barrows older histories hold

There’s bostles shutes hangers and glades
Daisies woods hidden enclaves
Byres and barns and buzzards that glide
And horses that stand just waiting to ride

So if you are near don’t hurry on by
There’s an intimate peace wide open sky
A magic that lies just beyond the towns
A beautiful place we call the Downs