There was a man was half a clown
(It's so my father tells of it).
He saw the church in Claremont town
And laughed to hear the bells of it.

He laughed to hear the bells that ring
In Claremont Church and round of it;
He heard the verger's daughter sing,
And loved her for the sound of it. 

The verger's daughter said him nay;
She had the right of choice in it.
He left the town at break of day;
He hadn't had a voice in it.

The road went up, the road went down,
And there the matter ended it.
He broke his heart in Claremont town.
At Pontgibaud they mended it.