JOHN MACANANTY'S COURTSHIP

On the first day of May, at the close of the day,
As I stood in the shade of a green spreading tree,
A young lover a-courting a maiden I spied;
I drew very near them to hear and to see.

The dress that he wore was a velvet so green,
All trimmed with gold lace, and as bright as the sea;
And he said, 'Love, I'll make you my own fairy queen,
If you are but willing to go with me.'

'Lisses and forts shall be at your command,
Mountains and valleys, the land and the sea,
And the billows that roar along the sea-shore,
If you are but willing to go with me.'

'To make me a queen my birth is too mean,
And you will get ladies of higher degree;
I know not your name nor from whence you came,
So I am not willing to go with thee.'

'I will tell you my name and I love you the same
As if you were a lady of higher degree;
John Macananty's my name, and from Scrabo I came,
And the queen of that country my love shall be.'

'If I were to go with one I don't know,
My parents and friends would be angry with me;
They would bring me back again with shame and disdain,
So I am not willing to go with thee.'

'From your friends we will sail in a ship that won't fail,
With silken-top-sail and a wonderful flight;
And from this to Coleraine, to France, and to Spain,
And home back again in one short night.

'There is not a fort from this to the north
But we'll dance all around it and sing merrilie;
And the lads of Queen Anne shall be at your command,
And they shall all stand in great dread of thee.

'Many a mile I have roamed in my time,
By sea and by land, a-looking for thee;
And I never could find rest or peace to my mind,
Until fortune proved kind and sent you to me.'
^^