I (G)am a (D)youth that's in(G)clined to (A)ramble

To (D)some foreign (Em)country I (G)mean to (A)steer

I am (G)loath to (D)part from my (G)friends and (A)comrades

And (D)my dear (Em)sweatheart, whom (G)I loved (A)dear

But (Em)there's one of (G)those I do (Em)most ad(A)mire

On (Em)her I'll (G)think when I'm (Em)far a(A)way

For since (G)fates decreed (Em)I am resolved to (D)part her

And try my (Em)fortune (G)in Ameri(A)cay

 

So farewell darling I must leave you

I place great dependence on your constancy

That no other young man may gain your favour

Or change your mind when I am o'ver the sea

For although the seas do separate us

And in between us they do rise and fall

If fortune favours me you'll find your Jamie

Returning homeward from Americay

 

Oh Jamie dear do you remember

When I sat with you for manys the hour

And my young fancy away was carried

And the bees hummed around on each opening flower

But when you're crossing the western ocean

The maid that loved you, you'll ne'er mind ava

And you'll scarce e'er think upon the maids of Erin

For you'll find strange sweethearts in America

 

Oh Mary dear, I don't disemble

For to all other fair maids I'll prove untrue

And if you think that these are fales promise

I'll leave these vows as a pledge to you

That what I have may prove unsuccessful

And fortune prove to me a slippery ball

That a favoring gale it may n'er blow on me

If I forsake you in America

 

And to conclude and to end these verses

May god profect this young female fair

And keep her from every wild embarrassment

And of my darling take the greatest care

For she's slow to anger and of kind disposition

And her cheeks like roses in june do blaw

In my nightly slumbers when e'er I think on her

I could court her vision in America