My false Love and I,
One noon-day in July
Stroll'd by the banks of the rippling river Dee.
The summer smiled around,
There scarcely was a sound
But the beating of  my heart and the humming of the bee.

I was  pulling at my glove,
For I knew no words of love
Would greet my anxious ear today;
Upon a fallen tree
That lay across the Dee
We sat, and thus he spoke, to my dismay:

"Now, Dolly, we must part,
Tho' I'm sorry in my heart,
But ambition calls me hence from home and thee;
I mus go toLondon town,
I must win a Lord Mayor's gown,
And of course must wed a maid of hight degree;

I must be a knight,
A man of mighty might,
And a knight and village maid would ne'er agree:
To regret me would be folly,
So forget me, dearest Dolly!"
But I gazed in silent sadness down the rushing river Dee!

I felt my heart a-swelling,
And I felt the tears a-welling,
But I knew full well he wasn't worth a thought;
So chasing all my sadness,
In a mood of merry madness
A plan of sweet revenge I swiftly wrought:

'T war a leafless, withered tree
That lay across the Dee,
And the false one sat midway upon the beam;
Just one gentle push I gave,
And, splashing mid the wave,
Behold the traitor floating down the stream!

"Good bye, Sir knight, 
Of the order of the 'bath'!
Seek now a maid of high degree.
You longed for swift promotion;
If you swim down to the ocean,
Perhaps you'll find a 'mermaid' in the deep, deep sea!"