In Bristol town one bright day a stranger he came riding   No work he sought but a fair-haired maid to stay the night beside him      His clothes they hung upon his frame, the face he wore was solemn   And on his lips the strangest words seemed so meek and common      Rock dove fly east toward your prey across the clouds of heaven   His tracks run down from Bristol town to the Iron Mountains      Rock dove go rouse a fair-haired girl, in the Iron Hills she's lying   Cold moonlight upon her breast, a white sheet round her winding      Oh Ellen Moore, your mother's pride, its' shame tonight you've brought her   For by you sleeps a stranger, at your feet another's daughter      Wake up, wake up, the chill wind cries, the mare shies in the stable   Gone the young man from your bed, the child from her crdadle      She ran out in the midnight field as fast her heart bled hollow   Her fists rained down on the moveless earth, her cries the dark did swallow      Rock dove fly west toward town, the church bells they are tolling   For on this night the Prince of Death a harlot's heart has stolen      In Bristol town one bright day a stranger he came riding   No work he sought but a fair-haired maid to stay the night beside him