One morning one morning in May
I spied a young couple a making their way
One was a maiden so bright and so fair
The other was a soldier and a brave volunteer
Good morning good morning good morning to thee
Oh where are you going my pretty lady
I am a going to the banks of the sea
To see the waters gliding herar the nightingales sing
Oh they hadn’t been a standing but a minute or two
When out of his knapsack a fiddle he drew
And the tune he was playing made the valleys all ring
Oh see the waters gliding hear the nightingales sing
Pretty lady pretty lady it’s time to give oar
Oh no pretty soldier please play one tune more
For I’d rather hear your fiddle and the touch of one string
Than to see that waters gliding hear the nightingales sing
Pretty soldier pretty soldier will you marry me
Oh no pretty lady that never can be
I have a wife in old London and children twa three
Two wives in the army too many for me
Well I’ll go back to London and I’ll stay there one year
And often I’ll think of you my little dear
And when I return it will be in the spring
To see the waters gliding hear the nightingales sing