One morning, one morning,
one morning in
May I met a fair couple
a -making their way
One was a lady so neat and so fair
The other a soldier and a
brave volunteer
Good morning, good morning,
good morning to thee
Oh, where are you
going, my pretty lady?
I'm going a -walking by the banks
of the stream
To see the waters a -gliding,
hear the nightingales
sing
They had not been
standing but an hour or
two
When out of his knapsack
a fiddle he drew
And the tune that he played
made the valleys all ring
Oh, hearken, said the lady,
how the nightingales sing
Pretty lady, pretty lady,
it's time to give o 'er
Oh no, pretty soldier,
please play one tune more
For I'd rather hear your fiddle,
the touch of one string
Than see the waters a -gliding,
hear the nightingales sing
Pretty soldier, pretty soldier
, won't you marry me?
Oh, no, pretty lady, that never can be
For I've got a wife in
London and children
twice three
Two wives in the army's too many for me
I'll go back to
London and stay there
one year
And often I'll think of you, my little dear
And if ever I return, it will be in the spring
To see the waters a -gliding,
hear the nightingales sing.