The Rushy Fields

The rushy fields where the rivers do meet
A half of an hour walk from the Town of Millstreet
From the overnight frost are looking quite gray
In the cold dawning of a November day

In the nearby farmyard in their wintering shed
The hungry cattle are bellowing to be fed
For five months at least in their sheds they will remain
Until grass grow in Spring in the soft April rain

In the Finnow river in the frosty dawn
The salmon are swimming up against the strong flow to spawn
To the inland rivers in November from the Atlantic shore
They swim against the strong currents to breed forty kilometers or more

Above the old rushy fields where Finnow waters flow
The cold winds of November from the mountains do blow
Brown water bank high from recent heavy rain
Flowing to the river in every field drain.