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The Sweet Mossy Banks Of The Wey
See also: The Green Mossy Banks Of The Lea

I first took a trip to old England,
To view the fair flowers that did shine,
I met a young girl from the city
And I wished in my heart she were mine.

I boldly stepped right up to her,
Those words to her I did say:
"Kind girl, do you need any guardian
On the sweet mossy banks of the Wey?"

"Kind sir, I don't need a guardian,
Besides, you're a stranger to me,
My father's down yonder a-coming
On the sweet mossy banks of the Wey."

Her father soon came up beside us,
I plucked up my spirit once more,
"Kind sir, if this is your daughter
She's the beautiful girl I adore.

"Ten thousand pounds will be her portion,
A lady your daughter will be,
Have horses and carriages to ride in
On the sweet mossy banks of the Wey."

He took her right home to his cottage
And soon in wedlock was tied,
You can see how a miracle stranger
Lives so happy with his little bride.

####.... Variant of a 19th century British broadside ballad [Laws O15] American Balladry From British Broadsides (G. Malcolm Laws, 1957). Also a variant of a British broadside ballad, The Green Mossy Banks Of The Lea, published by G. Walker (Durham) sometime between 1797 and 1834, and archived at the Bodleian Library Broadside Ballads, shelfmark: Firth b.26(498) ....####

Collected in 1960 from Jim Keeping of Burnt Islands, NL, by Ken Peacock and published in Songs Of The Newfoundland Outports, Volume 2, p.600, by the National Museum of Canada (1965) Crown Copyrights Reserved. A different variant was collected in 1951 from Pat Maloney of King's Cove, NL by Ken Peacock and published as The Green Mossy Banks Of The Lea in Songs Of The Newfoundland Outports, Volume 2, pp.523-524, by the National Museum of Canada (1965) Crown Copyrights Reserved.

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