Come all ye fair and tender ladies,
Take warning how you court young men,
They’re like the stars on a summer’s morning,
First they appear and then they’re gone.

My daddy is a handsome devil,
He’s got a chain five miles long,
And on every link a heart does dangle,
Of another maid he’s loved and wronged.

If I’d a known before I courted,
I never would have courted none,
I’d a locked my heart in a box of golden,
And fastened it up with a silver pin. I wish I were a little sparrow,
And I had wings and I could fly,
I’d fly away to my own false lover,
And when he’s talking I’d draw nigh,

But I am not a little sparrow,
I have no wings, nor can I fly,
I’ll sit right here, and weep in sorrow,
And try to pass my troubles by.