LOVELY NANCY
Appears in:
The Delightful Pocket Companion. Vol 2, In 6 Parts, 1745;
The Compleat Tutor for the French Horn, 1755;
A Complete Tutor for the English Flute, 1768;
Compleat Instructions for the German Flute, 1769.
Early American Secular Music and Its European Sources 1589-1839
1745
Here's adieu, sweet lovely Nancy, ten thousand times adieu,
I'm a-going across the ocean, love, to seek for something new.
Come change your ring with me, dear girl, Come change your ring with me,
For it might be a token of true love while I am on the sea.
When I'm far upon the sea you know not where I am.
Kind letters I will write to you from every foreign land.
The secrets of your heart, dear girl, Are the best of my good will,
So let my body be where it might, my heart shall be with you still.
There's a heavy storm a-rising, see how it gathers round,
While we poor souls on the ocean wide are fighting for the crown.
There's nothing to protect us, love, Or to keep us from the cold,
On the ocean wide, where we must bide like jolly seamen bold.
There's tinkers, tailors, shoemakers, lie snoring fast asleep,
While we poor souls on the ocean wide are ploughing through the deep.
Our officers commanding us and them we must obey,
Expecting every moment for to get cast away.
But when the wars are all over there'll be peace on every shore,
We'll return to our wives and our families and the girls that we adore.
We'll will call for liquor merrily, We will spend our money free,
And when the money it is all gone we'll boldly go to sea.
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