AS I ROVED OUT

And who are you, me pretty fair maid
And who are you, me honey?
And who are you, me pretty fair maid
And who are you, me honey?
She answered me quite modestly,
"I am me mother's darling."

cho: With me too-ry-ay
     Fol-de-diddle-day
     Di-re fol-de-diddle
     Dai-rie oh.

And will you come to me mother's house,
When the sun is shining clearly ( repeat )
I'll open the door and I'll let you in
And divil 'o one  would hear us.

So I went to her house in the middle of the night
When the moon was shining clearly ( repeat )
Shc opened the door and she let me in
And divil the one did hear us.

She took me horse by the bridle and the bit
And she led him to the stable ( repeat )
Saying "There's plenty of oats for a soldier's horse,
To eat it if he's able."

Then she took me by the lily-white hand
And she led me to the table ( repeat )
Saying "There's plenty of wine for a soldier boy,
To drink it if you're able."

Then I got up and made the bed
And I made it nice and aisy ( repeat )
Then I got up and laid her down
Saying "Lassie, are you able?"

And there we lay till the break of day
And divil a one did hear us ( repeat )
Then I arose and put on me clothes
Saying "Lassie, I must leave you."

And when will you return again
And when will we get married ( repeat )
When broken shells make Christmas bells
We might well get married.

From Folksongs and Ballads popular in Ireland, Ossian Publications
Note: An Irish variant of Trooper and the Maid


AS I ROVED OUT

As I roved out on a bright May morning
To view the meadows and flowers gay
Whom should I spy but my own true lover
As she sat under yon willow tree

I took off my hat and I did salute her
I did salute her most courageously
When she turned around well the tears fell from her
Sayin' "False young man, you have deluded me

A diamond ring I owned I gave you
A diamond ring to wear on your right hand
But the vows you made, love, you went and broke them
And married the lassie that had the land"

"If I'd married the lassie that had the land, my love
It's that I'll rue till the day I die
When misfortune falls sure no man can shun it
I was blindfolded I'll ne'er deny"

Now at nights when I go to my bed of slumber
The thoughts of my true love run in my mind
When I turned around to embrace my darling
Instead of gold sure it's brass I find

And I wish the Queen would call home her army
From the West Indies, Amerikay and Spain
And every man to his wedded woman
In hopes that you and I will meet again.

-------------------------------------------------------------
recorded by Planxty on "The Well Below The Valley" (1973) and
performed by Richard Thompson live 1990

There are two songs of this name on that Planxty album, this
is the one sung by Andy Irvine.

"We learned this sad and beautiful song from the singing of Paddy
Tunney who lives in Letterkenny, Co. Donegal. He has described it
as dating back to the days of the famine, when any bit of property
at all was enough to tempt a man to jilt his true love in favour
of the 'lassie with the land'" - Andy Irvine

The last verse seems slightly displaced and doesn't really fit
with the rest.