I'll be thankful for any corrections to these lyrics. I learned it in '96 from a radio performance of the Irish soprano Frances Lucey - it was her New York debut, aired on National Public Radio. I may not have heard a word or two correctly. - Alice

THE SHORTCUT THROUGH THE ROSSES
(Nora Hopper, 1902)

By the shortcut through the Rosses
A fairy girl I met,
I was taken by her beauty,
As a fish is in the net.

A fairy girl, she was so fair,
So very fair was she,
With her hair as bright as the seaweed,
That flows in from the sea.

By the shortcut through the Rosses
Twas on a summer's day,
I heard the fairies piping,
And they piped my heart away.

They piped 'til I was mad with joy
But when I was alone,
I found they'd piped my heart away,
And in my breast a stone.

By the shortcut through the Rosses
'Tis I'll go nevermore,
Lest she should steal my soul away,
Who stole my heart before.

Lest she take my soul and crush it,
Like a daisy in her hand,
For the shortcut through the Rosses is,
The way to fairy land.

Alice