30 JULY 1927, Page 11

Poetry

The Orchard Song

ALONG the road to Lenham, Above the hedges high,

The red fruit hung in bunches As we went riding by.

A country girl was singing Beneath the weighted bough ; " 0 a ladder and a basket, For cherries ripen now !"

Her hair was brown as Kentish ale, Her eyes were black as sloes, And prim she was and trim she was, And ruddy as the rose.

And 0 she sang in summer Beneath the weighted bough : " A ladder and a basket,