This is the version from The Voice Squad:


THE BANKS OF THE BANN

When first to this country a stranger I came
I placed my affection on a maid that was young
She being warm and tender, her waist small and slender
Kind nature had formed her for my overthrow

On the banks of the Bann, where I first beheld her
She appeared like fair Juno or a Grecian queen
Her eyes shone like diamonds, her hair softly twining
Her cheeks were like roses, or blood drops in snow

'Twas her cruel parents that first caused our variance
All because I was poor and of a low degree
But I'll do my endeavour for to gain my love's favour
Although she is come of a rich family

My name is Delaney, it's a name that won't shame me
And if I had saved money I'd have plenty in store
But drinking and courting, night rambling and sporting
Were the cause of my ruin and absence from home

Oh had I the money that's in the West Indies
Or had I the gold of the African shore
I would spend it on pearls, and on you my brown girl
For there's no other love in this world I adore

And now that I've found her I'm contented for ay
I'll put rings on her fingers and gold in her ear
We'll live on the banks of the lovely Bann river
And in all sorts of splendour I will style her my dear.