i am a youth that's inclined to ramble

i am a youth that's inclined to ramble

to some foreign country i mean to steer

i am loath to part with my friends and comrades

and my dear sweetheart whom i love dear

but there's one of those i do most admire

on her i'll think when i'm far away

for since fate's decreed i am resolved to part her

and try my fortune in america

so farewell darling since i must leave you

i place great dependence on your constancy

that no other young man may gain your favour

or change your mind when i am o'er the sea

for although the seas they do separate us

and in between us they do rise and fall

if fortune favours me you'll find your jamie

returning homeward from america

oh

jamie

dear

do you remember

when i sat with you for many's the hour?

and my young fancy away was carried

and the bees hummed around us on each opening flower?

but when you're crossing the western ocean

the maid that loved you you'll ne'er mind a'va

and you'll scarce e'er think upon the maids of erin

for you'll find strange sweethearts in america

oh mary

dear

i don't dissemble

for to all other fair maids i'll prove untrue

and if you think that these are false promises

i'll leave these vows as a pledge to you

that what i have may prove unsuccessful

and fortune prove to me a slippery ball

that a favouring gale it may ne'er blow on me

if i forsake you in america

and so to conclude and to end these verses

may god protect this young female fair

and keep her from every wild embarrassment

and of my darling take the greatest care

for she's slow to anger and of kind disposition

and her cheeks like roses in june do blaw

in my nightly slumbers

when e'er i think on her

i could court her vision in america