The wind was a torrent of darkness   Among the gusty trees   The moon was a ghostly galleon   Tossed upon cloudy seas   And the road was a ribbon of moonlight   Over the purple moor   And the highwayman came riding, riding, riding   Yes, the highwayman came riding   Up to the old inn door   Over the cobbles he clattered   And clashed in the darkened yard   And he tapped with his whip at the window   But all was locked and barred   So he whistled a tune to the window   And who should be waiting there   But the landlord's black eyed daughter   Bess the landlord's daughter   Plaiting a dark red love knot   Into her long black hair   One kiss, my bonny sweetheart   For I'm after a prize tonight   But I shall be back with the yellow gold   Before the morning light   Yet if they press me sharply   Harry me through the day   Oh, then look for me by moonlight   Watch for me by moonlight   And I'll come to thee by moonlight   Though Hell should bar the way   He did not come at the dawning   No, he did not come at the noon   And out of the tawny sunset   before the rise of the moon   When the road was a gypsy's ribbon   Looping the purple moor   Oh a redcoat troop came marching, marching, marching   King George's men came marching   Up to the old inn door   And they bound the landlord's daughter   with many a sniggering jest   And they bound the musket beside her   With the barrel beneath her breast   Now keep good watch and they kissed her   She heard the dead man say   "Oh look for me by moonlight   Watch for me by moonlight   And I'll come to thee by moonlight   Though Hell should bar the way"   Look for me by moonlight   Hoof beats ringing clear   Watch for me by moonlight   Were they deaf that they did not hear   For he rode on the gypsy highway   She breathed one final breath   Then her finger moved in the moonlight   Her musket shattered the moonlight   And it shattered her breast in the moonlight   And warned him with her death   Oh he turned; he spurred on to the west   He did not know who stood   Out with her black hair a flowing down   Drenched with her own red blood   Oh not 'til the dawn had he heard it   And his face grew gray to hear   How Bess the landlord's daughter   The landlord's black eyed daughter   Had watched for her love in the moonlight   And died in the darkness there   Back he spurred like a madman   Shrieking a curse to the sky   With the white road smoking behind him   And his rapier brandished high   Blood red were his spurs in the golden noon   Wine red his velvet coat   When they shot him down on the highway   Down like a dog on the highway   And he lay in his blood on the highway   With a bunch of lace at his throat   And still on a winter's night they say   When the wind is in the trees   When the moon is a ghostly galleon   Tossed upon cloudy seas   When the road is a ribbon of moonlight   Over the purple moor   Oh the highwayman comes riding, riding, riding   Yes the highwayman comes riding   Up to the old inn door.