I am a youth that's inclined to ramble
to some foreign country i mean to steer
i am loath to part from 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 fates 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 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 manys the hour
and my young fancy away was carried
and the bees hummed around on each opening flower
but when you're crossing the western ocean
the maid that loved you, you'll ne'er the mind ava,
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 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