[Intro]
[Verse]
On the first day of May at the close of the day
As I stood in the shade of a green spreading tree
A young lover a-courting a maiden I spied
I drew very near them to hear and to see
[Verse]
The dress that he wore was a velvet so green
All trimmed with gold lace and as bright as the sea
And he said, âLove, I ll make you my own fairy queen
If you are but willing to go with me
[Verse]
âLisses and forts shall be at your command
The mountains and valleys, the land and the sea
And the billows that roar along the seashore
If you are but willing to go with me
[Verse]
âTo make me a queen, my birth is too mean
And you will get ladies of higher degree
I know not your name nor from whence you came
So I am not willing to go with theeâ
[Verse]
âI will tell you my name, and I love you the same
As if you were a lady of higher degree
MacAnanty s my name and from Scrabo I came
And the queen of that country, my love, you shall beâ
[Verse]
âIf I were to go with one I don t know
My parents and friends would be angry with me
They d bring me back again with shame and disdain
So I am not willing to ramble with theeâ
[Verse]
âFrom your friends we will sail in a ship that won t fail
With a silken topsail and a wonderful flight
And from misty Coleraine, to France and to Spain
Then back home again in one short night
[Verse]
âFor there is not a fort from this to the north
But we ll dance all around it and sing merrily
And the lads of Queen Anne shall be at your command
And they will all stand in great dread of thee
[Verse]
âFor it s many s the mile I have roamed in my time
By land and by sea a-looking for thee
For I ne er could find rest nor peace to my mind
Until fortune proved kind and sent you to meâ
