Two pretty boys were goin' tae the school And one evening coming home Says William to John, Can you throw a stone Or can you play at a ball, a ball, or can you play at a ball
Says John to William, I canna' throw a stone Little can I play at a ball But if you'll go down to a merry green woods I'll try you a wrestlin' fall, a fall, I'll try you a wrestlin' fall
So they went down tae a merry green woods Beneath the spreadin' bough The little penknife fell out of William's coat And gave John his deadly wound, wound, and gave John his deadly wound
Ah, now you'll take off your white Holland shirt And teer it frae gore tae gore And you will bind my deadly wounds That they might bleed no more, no more, that they might bleed no more
So he's ta'en off his white Holland shirt And he's torn it frae gore tae gore And though he's bound his deadly wounds Ah, they bled ten times more, more, they bled ten times more
Ah but what shall I tell to your father dear This night when I go home Tell him I'm away to a London school And a good scholar I'll come home, home, a good scholar I'll come home
Ah but what shall I tell to your sister dear This night when I go home Tell her I'm away to a London school And the good books I'll bring home, home, the good books I'll bring home
Ah but what shall I tell to your sweetheart dear This night when I go home Tell her I'm dead and in the grave laid And the grass is growin' green, green, the grass is growin' green
Ah but what shall I tell to your stepmother dear This night when I go home Tell her I'm dead and in the grave laid For she prayed I might never come home, home, she prayed I might never come home