One mornin', one mornin', one mornin' in May,
I saw a fair couple amakin' their way;
And one was a lady, a lady so fair,
The other a soldier, a brave volunteer.

"Good mornin', good mornin', good mornin' to thee,
O where are you goin' my pretty lady?"
"O I am a goin' to the banks of the sea,
To see waters glidin', hear the nightingale sing."

They hadn't been standin' a minute or two,
When out of his knapsack a fiddle he drew;
And the tune that he played made the valleys all ring,
Made the waters go glidin', made the nightingale sing!

"Brave soldier, kind solider will you marry me?"
"Oh, no pretty lady, that never could be.
I've a true love in London who's waitin' for me,
Two loves in the army's too many for me."

"I'll go back to London and stay there a year,
And often I'll dream of you, my little dear;
And if e'er I return 'twill be in the Spring,
To see waters glidin', hear the nightingale sing."