one morning
one morning
one morning in may
i spied a young couple
they were making their way. one was a maiden so bright and so fair and the other was a soldier and a brave volunteer. good morning
good morning
good morning said he
and where are you going my pretty lady?
i'm going out a-walking on the banks of the sea
just to see the water's glide and hear the nightingale sing. now they had not been standing but a minute or two
when out of his knapsack a fiddle he drew
and the tune that he played made the valleys all ring
oh hark
cried the maiden
hear the nightingale sing. oh maiden
fair maiden
'tis time to give o'er. oh no
kind soldier
please play one tune more
for i'd rather hear your fiddle at the touch of one string
than to see the waters glide and hear the nightingale sing. oh soldier
kind soldier
will you marry me? oh no
pretty maiden
that never shall be. i've a wife down in london and children twice three
two wives and the army's too many for me. well
i'll go back to london and i'll stay there for a year
it's often that i'll think of you
my little dear. and if ever i return it will be in the spring
just to see the waters glide and hear the nightingale sing. to see the waters glide and hear the nightingale sing.