The Yew Tree

My bonny Yew Tree
tell me what did you
see?

And I thought as I stood
and laid hands on your wood
that it might be a kindness to fell ye
one kiss of the axe
and your free from the rest
and the set bloody tales that
we tell ye,
But a wee bird flew out of your branches
and sang out like never before
and the words of the song
were a thousand years long
and to learn them a thousand
years more.