It’s of a farmer’s daughter, so beautiful I’m told Her parents died and left to her 500 pound in gold She lived with her uncle, the cause of all her woes As you will hear, this maiden did prove his overthrow Her uncle had a plowboy young Mary loved full well ‘Twas in her uncle’s garden their tales of love they did tell There was a wealthy squire, who oft came for her to see Still Mary loved her plowboy on the banks of sweet Dundee Her uncle rose one morning, and then went straight away He knocked up on her bedroom door, and unto her he thus did say ‘Rise up you fair young maiden, a lady now you shall be, The squire stands a-waiting by the banks of sweet Dundee’ ‘A fig for all your squires, your lords and dukes likewise, My Willy he appears to me like diamonds in my eyes’ ‘Be gone unruly female, for happy though shalt never be, I mean to banish young Willy from the banks of sweet Dundee’ Her uncle and the squire rode out one fine Summer’s day ‘Young Willy he’s in favour’ her uncle he did say ‘Indeed it’s my intention to hang him from a tree, Or else to bribe the press gang by the banks of sweet Dundee’ The press gang came for Willy when he was all alone He boldly fought for liberty, but the odds were six to one The blood it flowed in torrents, ‘Pray kill me now’ said he ‘I’d rather die for Mary by the banks of sweet Dundee’ Young Mary was out walking, lamenting for her love She met the wealthy squire down in her uncle’s grove He threw his arms around her ‘Stand off base man’ said she ‘You took the only man I love from the banks of sweet Dundee’ He clasped his arms around her and tried to throw her down Two pistols and a sword she spied beneath his undergown Young Mary took those pistols and the sword he used so free And she did fire and shot the squire on the banks of sweet Dundee Her uncle overheard the noise and hastened to the ground ‘Oh since you’ve shot the squire, I’ll give you your deathwound’ ‘Stand off then’ cried young Mary, ‘Undaunted I will be’ She trigger drew, her uncle slew, on the banks of sweet Dundee Young Willy he was sent for and quickly did return As soon as he came back again, young Mary ceased to mourne The day it was appointed, they joined their hands so free And now they live in splendour on the banks of sweet Dundee And now they live in splendour on the banks of sweet Dundee

The Dutchman’s not the kind of man To leave his thumb jammed in the damn That holds his dreams in But that’s a secret only Margaret knows When Amersterdam is golden in the Summer Margaret brings him breakfast She believes him He thinks the tulips bloom beneath the snow He’s mad as he can be, but Margaret only sees that sometimes Sometimes she sees her unborn children in his eyes Let us go to the banks of the ocean Where the walls rise above the Zuiderzee Long ago, I used to be a young man And now dear Margaret remembers that for me The Dutchman still wears wooden shoes His cap and coat are patched with love That Margaret sewed there Sometimes he thinks he’s still in Rotterdam He watches tugboats down canals And calls out to them when he thinks he knows the captain ‘Till Margaret comes to take him home again Through unforgiving streets that trip him though she holds his arm Sometimes he thinks he’s alone and calls her name Let us go to the banks of the ocean Where the walls rise above the Zuiderzee Long ago, I used to be a young man And now dear Margaret remembers that for me The winter's whirl the windmills round She winds his muffler tighter And they sit in the kitchen Some tea with whiskey keeps away the dew He sees her for a moment, calls her name, She makes the bed up singing some old love song A song that Margaret learned when it was new He hums a line or two, they sing together in the dark The Dutchman falls asleep, and Margaret blows the candle out Let us go to the banks of the ocean Where the walls rise above the Zuiderzee Long ago, I used to be a young man And now dear Margaret remembers that for me Let us go to the banks of the ocean Where the walls rise above the Zuiderzee Long ago, I used to be a young man And now dear Margaret remembers that

It was on one bright March morning I bid New Orleans adieu I took the road to Jackson Town, my fortune to renew I cursed all foreign money, no credit could I gain Which filled my heart with longing for the lakes of Pontchartrain I stepped onboard a railroad car beneath the morning sun I rode the rails ‘till evening when I laid me down again All strangers here, no friends to me ‘till a dark girl toward me came And I fell in love with a Creole girl by the lakes of Pontchartrain I said ‘My pretty Creole girl, my money here’s no good If not for the alligators, I’d sleep out in the wood.’ ‘You’re welcome here kind stranger, our house is very plain, But we ne’er have turned a stranger out from the lakes of Pontchartrain She took me to her mother’s house and treated my quite well The hair upon her shoulders in jet black ringlets fell To try and paint her beauty, I’m sure t’would be in vain So handsome was my Creole girl by the lakes of Pontchartrain I asked her if she’d marry me, she said it ne’er could be For she had got another, and he was far at sea She said that she’d wait for him, and true she would remain ‘Till he returned for his Creole girl by the lakes of Pontchartrain So fare thee well my Creole girl, I ne’er will see ya no more I’ll ne’er forget your kindness or your cottage by the shore At each social gathering, a flowing glass I’ll raise And I’ll drink a health to my Creole girl by the lakes of Pontchartrain

Oh me and me cousin one Arthur Mcbride As we went a-walking down by the seaside Now mark what did follow and what did betide It being one Christmas morning All for recreation we went on a tramp Where we met Sergeant Nipper and Corporal Cramp And a little wee drummer intending to camp The day being pleasant and charming ‘Good morning, good morning’ the sergeant did cry ‘And the same to yous gentlemen’ we did reply Intending no harm, but meant for to pass by It being one Christmas morning Said he ‘My fine fellows, if you would enlist, It’s 10 guineas in gold I’ll slip in your fist, And a crown in the bargain for the kick up the dust And drink the King’s health in the morning’ ‘For a soldier he leads a very fine life And he always is blessed with a charming young wife And he settles disputes without sorrow or strife, And always is pleasant and charming ‘And a soldier he always is decent and clean In the finest of clothing he’s constantly seen Whilst other poor fellows go dirty and mean And sup on thin gruel in the morning’ But cried Arthur ‘I would not be proud of your clothes As you’ve only got lend of them as I suppose, And you dare not remove them one night for ya know You’re sure to be flogged in the morning ‘And although we both are single and free We take great delight in our own company And we have no desire of strange faces to see Although that your offers are charming ‘And we have no desire to take your advance, Though all hazards and dangers we barter on chance And besides you’d no scruples but to send us to France Where we’d surely be shot without warning’ ‘Oh now’ cried the sergeant, ‘I’ll have no such chat, And I neither will take it from spalpeen nor brat, And if you dare insult me with more words like that, I’ll cut off your heads in the morning’ And Arthur and I, oh we took on the odds And they scarcely had time for to draw their own blades When a trusty shillelagh came over their heads And bade them take that as fair warning And their rusty old rapiers that hung by their sides Oh we flung them as far as we could in the tide ‘Now the devil go with ya’ cried Arthur McBride ‘And temper their edge in the morning’ And the little wee drummer we flattened his pow And we made a football of his rowdydowdow And we flung it in the tide for the rock and to roll And bade it a tedious returning And we having no money to put in their cracks Oh we paid no respect to their two bloody back And we lathered them there like a pair of wet sacks And left them for dead in the morning And so to conclude, and to finish disputes We obligingly asked if they’d like new recruits For we were the lads who’d give them hard clouts And bid them look sharp in the morning

Oh my name is Jock Stuart I’m an easy going man And a roving young fellow I’ve been So be easy and free When you’re drinking with me I’m a man you don’t meet every day I have acres of land I have men at command And always a shilling to spare So be easy and free When you’re drinking with me I’m a man you don’t meet every day I’m a piper by trade And a roving young blade And many the tune I do play So be easy and free When you’re drinking with me I’m a man you don’t meet every day Now I took out my gun And with my dog I did shoot All down by the river Kildare So be easy and free When you’re drinking with me I’m a man you don’t meet every day Let us catch well the hours And the minutes that fly Let us spend together this day So be easy and free When you’re drinking with me I’m a man you don’t meet every day So come fill up your glasses Full of brandy and wine And whatever the cost I shall pay So be easy and free When you’re drinking with me I’m a man you don’t meet every day Oh my name is Jock Stuart I’m an easy going man And a roving young fellow I’ve been

In 1649 to St. George’s Hill A ragged band they called the Diggers came to show the people’s will They defied the landlords, they defied the laws They were the dispossessed, reclaiming what was theirs ‘We come in peace’ they said ‘to dig and sow, We come to work the lands in common And to make the wastegrounds grow This Earth divided, we will make whole, And it will be a common treasure for us all ‘The sin of property we do disdain, No man has any right to buy and sell the Earth for private gain’ By theft and murder, they took the land Now everywhere the walls rise up at their common ‘They make the laws to chain us well The clergy dazzle us with heaven or they damn us into hell We will not worship the god they serve The god of greed who feeds the rich while poor folks starve ‘We work together, we need no swords We will not bow to the masters or pay rent to the lords Still we are free, though we are poor You Diggers all stand up for glory, stand up now From men of property the orders came They sent the hired men and troopers to wipe out the Diggers claim Tear down their cottages, destroy their corn They were dispersed, but still the vision lingers on You poor take courage, you rich take care The Earth was made a common treasury for everyone to share All things in common, all people one ‘We come in peace’, the orders came to cut them down