The Country Gentlemen - One Morning In May lyrics

One morning, one morning, one morning in May I spied a young couple; they were making their way And one was a lady 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 by the banks of the sea Just to see the waters roll and hear the nightingale sing Now they had not been standing but a minute or so When out of his knapsack a fiddle he drew And the tune that he played made the valleys to ring Oh hark, cried the maiden, hear the nightingales 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 with the touch of one string Than to see the waters glide and hear the nightingales 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'll be in the spring To see the waters glide and hear the nightingales sing Come dry up your tears, there is nothing to fear I will roam these green valleys now for many's a long year When the birds sang so sweet, this young man proved his deceit Saying adieu, lovely fair maid, we will never more meet With my snuff box and cane, this whole world I will range Like Venus or Diana in search of her swain When the moon shines so clear, I will mourn for my dear Over mountains, clear fountains, where no one can hear There's one thing that I know, and that before I go I will never return for to hear her sad woe There's another thing I know and that before I go That the ranger and the stranger have many's the foe