Erin's Lovely Home
When I was young and in my prime, my age was twenty-one
I then became a servant boy unto a gentleman,
I served him true and honestly, and very well it's known,
But with cruelty he banished me from Erin's lovely home.
The reason for my banishment, I mean to let you know
'Tis true I loved his daughter and she loved me also,
She had a handsome fortune but riches I had none,
And that's the reason I must go from Erin's lovely home.
It was in her father's garden, all in the month of June
The birds were singing cheerily and the flowers were all in bloom,
She said; "My dearest Willy, if along with me you'll roam,
We'll bid farewell to all our friends and Erin's lovely Home"
That very night I gave consent along with her to go
And leave her father's dwelling, which proved my overthrow,
The night was bright with the moonlight when we set out alone
Thinking we could thus escape from Erin's lovely home.
When we arrived at Belfast, 'twas at the break of day,
"My love," she said, "we must prepare our passage for to pay."
Five hundred pounds she counted down, saying "That will be your own,
And do not fret for those you've left in Erin's lovely home."
But to my sad misfortune as quickly you will hear
It was but a few hours after her father did appear,
He brought me back to Omagh Jail, in the County of Tyrone,
And from there I was transported from Erin's lovely home.
When I received my sentence it grieved my heart full sore,
But parting from my own true love it grieved me ten times more.
There are seven links upon my chain, and every link a year
Before I can return again to the arms of my dear.