Language: English 
I'll sing you a song about two lovers, 
O from Lichfeeddeld town tha came;
The young man's name was Willyum Taylor, 
The maaden's name was Sally Gray.

No for a soldier Willyum's 'listed,
For a soldier he 'as gone;
He's gone and left sweet loveli Sally, 
Foer te sigh adden foer to mourn.

Sally's parents thae controlled 'er,
Filled 'er 'eart foll of greef and woe;
And then at last she vowed an' said
For a soldier she would go.

She dressed herseddelf in man's apparil,
Man's appariddel she pot on;
Adden for to seek bold Willyum Taylor,
And for te seek him she 'as gone.

Won day as she was exercisin',
Exercisin' amongst the rest,
With a silver chean hung down her waastcoat,
And there he spied her lilywhite breast.

And then the capten he stepped up to her,
Ast her what had brought her there: 
"I've come te seek my own treo lover,
He has proved to me sovere."

"If you've come te seek yer own true lover,
Pray tell to me his name."
"His name it is boddeld Willyum Taylor,
O from Leitchfeedeld town he came."

"If his name it is bold Willyum Taylor,
And he has proved to you sovere,
He's got married to adden Irish lady,
He got married the other yeer."

"If you rise earli in the mornin',
Early by the brek of day,
There you shall spy bold Willyum Taylor
Walkin' with this lady gay."

Then she rose earli in the mornin',
Early by the brek of day,
And there she spied bold Willyum Taylor,
A-walking with this lady gay.

And then she called for a brace of pistils, 
A brace of pistils at her comand,
And there she shot Bold Willyum Taylor, 
With his bride at his right 'and.

And then the capten he was well pleezed, 
Was well pleezed what she had done;
And there he made her a gret comaddender 
Aboard of a ship, äver all his men.

Note: this English folk song was collected by Grainger in 1906 from two Lincolnshire men and recorded on a phonograph. The idiomatic spellings used in his setting together with extensive diacritics not shown here endeavour to reproduce the Lincolnshire dialect.

Note: below is a "translation" to standard English by David K. Smythe: 

I'll sing you a song about two lovers, 
O from Lichfield town they came;
The young man's name was William Taylor, 
The maiden's name was Sally Gray.

Now for a soldier William's 'listed, [enlisted]
For a soldier he has gone;
He's gone and left sweet lovely Sally, 
For to sigh and for to mourn.

Sally's parents they controlled her -
Filled her heart full of grief and woe;
And then at last she vowed and said
For a soldier she would go.

She dressed herself in man's apparel,
Man's apparel she put on;
And for to seek bold William Taylor,
And for to seek him she has gone.

One day as she was exercising,
Exercising amongst the rest,
With a silver chain hung down her waistcoat,
And there he spied her lily-white breast.

And then the captain he stepped up to her,
Asked her what had brought her there: 
"I've come to seek my own true lover,
He has proved to me severe."

"If you've come to seek your own true lover,
Pray tell to me his name."
"His name it is bold William Taylor,
O from Lichfield town he came."

"If his name it is bold William Taylor,
And he has proved to you severe,
He's got married to an Irish lady,
He got married the other year."

"If you rise early in the morning,
Early by the break of day,
There you shall spy bold William Taylor
Walking with this lady gay."

Then she rose early in the morning,
Early by the break of day,
And there she spied bold William Taylor,
A-walking with this lady gay.

And then she called for a brace of pistols, 
A brace of pistols at her command,
And there she shot Bold William Taylor, 
With his bride at his right hand.

And then the captain he was well pleased, 
Was well pleased what she had done;
And there he made her a great commander 
Aboard of a ship, over all his men.

Composition:

Text Authorship:

See other settings of this text.


Researcher for this page: David K. Smythe

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 48
Word count: 328