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Ye rambling boys of pleasure,
Take heed to these words I write,
I see you are a roving lad,
In that I took great delight;
I fell in love with a handsome man,
Who ofttimes did me slight,
But my mind was never easy,
Till he was by my side.
It was down by the banks of the river Lea,
First I saw this man,
'Twas there I saw my own true love,
These words to him did say:
"I see you take love easy like
The green leaves on the tree."
But he being so young and so foolish,
With me he would not agree.
'Twas the second time I saw this man,
I knew his heart was mine,
But like the weather it do change,
This young man did change his mind;
He said, "Gold is the root of all evil,
It do shone like the glittering dew,
It's the cause of a lad and a lass for to part,
Though their hearts be ever so true."
Now there is one thing that do grieve me,
To be called a runaway,
To leave where I was born-ed in,
May kind heaven pity me;
To leave the ones I love behind,
But alas, what can I do?
And tonight he'll go courting another young girl,
A girl I don't know who.
How I wish I were in Willow town,
My true love with me,
And money to support us,
Keep us in good company;
With money to support us,
Both growing old at each other's side,
Misfortune will never daunt us,
For we are young and the world is wide.
