[Verse 1]
One morning, one morning, one morning in May
I met a fair couple a-making their way
Oh, one was a lady so neat and so fair
The other was a soldier, and a brave volunteer

[Verse 2]
"Good morning, good morning, good morning to thee
Oh, where are you going, my pretty lady?"
"I'm going a-walking by the banks of the stream
To see the waters a-gliding, hear the nightingales sing"

[Verse 3]
They had not been standing but an hour or two
When out of his knapsack a fiddle he drew
And the tune that he played made the valleys all ring
"O harken," said the lady, "How the nightingales sing"

[Verse 4]
"Pretty lady, pretty lady, it's time to give o'er"
"Oh no, pretty soldier, please play one tune more
For I'd rather hear your fiddle or the touch of one string
Than see the waters a-gliding, hear the nightingales sing

[Verse 5]
"Pretty soldier, pretty soldier, won't you marry me?"
"Oh no, pretty lady, that never can be
I have a wife in London, and children twice three
Two wives in the army's too many for me
[Verse 6]
"I'll go back to London and stay there one year
And often I'll think of you, my little dear
And if ever I return it will be in the spring
To see the waters a-gliding, hear the nightingales sing"