WHEN FIRST I CAME UNTO THIS COUNTRY

When first I came unto this country,
It was to view the sweet flowers gay.
I then fell courting a pretty female;
She appeared to me like the Queen of May.
I asked her kindly would she marry
Or would she choose to be a sailor's bride.
"Oh no, kind Sir, I'd rather tarry
And I would choose a sweet single life."

"O fairest creature, the pride of nature,
How come you differ from all female kind,
For you are youthful, both fair and handsome,
To marry you I am much inclined."
"No, kind Sir, since I must tell you,
I am promised these five years or more
To one O'Reilly from the County Leitrim,
Which often grieves my poor heart full sore."

"I wish I had you in Fenit Harbour,
A hundred miles from your native home,
Or in some valley where none may find you;
It's there with you I'd be content to roam.
For it's there I would caress my jewel,
If along with me she'd consent to go.
I'll sail you over to Pennsylvania
And bid adieu to O'Reilly for ever more."

Singer Jimmy Crowley learned this version of the song from his neighbour in Douglas, Co Cork, Ireland; piper John Harris. It is published in Jimmy Crowley's Irish Song Book, Cork: Mercier, 1986.