[Verse 1]
I was once a jolly ploughboy
I was ploughin' up the fields all day
When a sudden thought came to my mind
That I should roam away
No more to work the harvest fields
Nor hear the skylark sing
For I've joined up to the army
I'm a-fightin' for the King

[Chorus]
Then hurrah for the scarlet and the blue
With their helmets a-glitterin' in the sun
And the bayonets flash like lightnin' to
The beatin' of the military drum
And no more will I go harvestin'
Or gathering the golden corn
For I've took the good King's shilling
And I'm off tomorrow morn

[Verse 2]
And I'll leave behind my Molly
She's the girl that I adore
And I wonder if she'll think of me
When the rifles crack and roar
And if ever I return again
And she proves true to me
We're going to do the churchyard walk
And a sergeant's wife she'll be
[Chorus]
Then hurrah for the scarlet and the blue
With their helmets a-glitterin' in the sun
And the bayonets flash like lightnin' to
The beatin' of the military drum
And no more will I go harvestin'
Or gathering the golden corn
For I've took the good King's shilling
And I'm off tomorrow morn