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It's of a rich merchant in London did dwell,
He had one only daughter, a beautiful girl,
Diana was her name, sir, scarce fourteen years old,
She had for herself a fortune in both silver and gold.
It happened upon a fine summer's day
A ship of her father's sailed into the bay,
Like other pretty maidens on board the ship did go
For to view her father's ship and his jolly kievo.[?]
She had not been on board scarce a short space of time
When on a bright young sailor she soon fixed her mind,
She was put into a boat and was rowed unto the shore,
She was ill with a pain that she'd never had before.
"Oh, where's my lovely sailor? Go bring him to me,
Send for my sailor and married we will be,
For that one stroke of love is more than I can bear,
And if you don't receive me I'll die in despair."
She looked all around to see if he had come.
"Oh, yes," said the sailor, oh, madam, here I am."
She flew into his arms, embraced him with a kiss,
"Whatever I do or say there you'll take it as amiss."
'Twas in her father's garden this young couple walked,
'Twas in her father's garden this young couple talked,
'Twas in her father's garden they walked hand in hand,
He said, "Lovely Diana, take my heart in command."
Collected in 1960 from Jim Smurridge of Burnt Islands, NL, by Ken Peacock and published in Songs Of The Newfoundland Outports, Volume 2, pp.515-516, by the National Museum of Canada (1965) Crown Copyrights Reserved.
It has been suggested by Robert B. Waltz, Editor of the Traditional Ballad Index. that this song may be a possible rewrite of a British broadside ballad, The Rich Merchant's Daughter [Laws M19] with a happier ending.
