| lyric | 1. In London town, where I did dwell,
a butcher boy O loved so well.
He courted me, for many a day,
he stole from me, my heart away.
I wish, I wish, I wish in vain,
I wish I was a maid again,
a maid again I ne’er can be,
till apples grow on an ivy tree.
2. There is an inn in that same town,
And there my love he sits him down,
He takes astrange girl on his knee,
And tells her what he wouldn’t tell me.
3. The reason is I’ll tell you why,
Because she’s got more gold than I,
But gold will melt and silver fly,
And in time of need be as poor as I.
4. I’ll go upstairs and make my bed,
“There’s nothing to do,“ my mother said,
My mother she has followed me,
Saying: “What is the matter, my daughter dear?“
5. “Oh mother dear, you little know,
What's pain and sorrow or what’s woe,
Go get achair and sit me down,
With pen and ink I’ll write it down.“
6. Her father he came home that night,
Enquiring for his heart’s delight,
He went upstairs, the door he broke,
He found her hanging on a rope.
7. He took a knife and cut her down,
And in her bosom these lines he found:
“Oh what afoolish girl I was,
To hang myself for a butcher’s boy.“
8. “Go dig my grave both wide and deep,
Put a marble stone at my head and feet,
And on my grave place aturtle dove,
To show the world that I died for love.“ |