I finally found the correct song. (By the way, there are lots of other songs and instrumental pieces with the same title, but I found only one recording of this song.) Here is a first draft of a transcription; it needs some gaps filled in.

I find it disconcerting how the point of view keeps shifting from "we" to "they" and back again. Does the narrator belong to the group he sings about, or not? I recommend, whoever wants to sing this should find a way to make it consistent.


LEAVES IN THE WIND
As sung by the Fureys on "May We All Someday Meet Again" (2013)

My father's fathers told him, and he in turn told me
About the time they worked the land in another century,
Of the day those … they couldn't find the rent.
The bailiffs came and … to the highways they were sent.

We were leaves in the wind; we were scattered down the road.
We were leaves in the wind; we begged for food; sometimes we stole.

Our women walked the byways and … what they could bring.
The men found skill in their fingertips, a living out of tin.

We were leaves in the wind; we watched the trees grown bare.
We were leaves in the wind; we shook the brush out of our hair.

Their eyes were long unseeing(?) how well the hazel bent,
And he used it as a handy frame to build a sheltered tent.

We were leaves in the wind; we heard the owl; we saw the lark.
We were leaves in the wind; we sang round campfires in the dark.

They gathered near for company; together they weren't alone,
And in front of any stranger, they talked the language of their own.

We were leaves in the wind; we jockeyed ponies at the fair.
We were leaves in the wind; we trapped the rabbit and the hare.

I think about them sometimes, walking in the town,
Of lives that were linked together before mine came around.
They were the travelin' people, just struggling to survive.
And the names the … gave us, and take away my pride.

We were leaves in the wind; we heard the owl; we saw the lark.
We were leaves in the wind; we danced round campfires in the dark.
We were leaves in the wind; we heard the owl; we saw the lark.
We were leaves in the wind; we danced round campfires in the dark.