I know it as

"And now my love has gone to France,
To try his fortune for to advance,
And if he comes back 'tis but a chance,
Is go dtearn tu, a mhuinin, slan

"I wish I were on yonder hill,
And there I'd sit and weep my fill,
And every tear would turn a mill,
Is go dtearn tu, a mhuirnin, slan" (and may you return, my darling safely, is the translation of the last phrase).

Then "I'll sell my *rock* (gadget used in spinning), I'll sell my reel,
I'll sell my only spinning-wheel,
To buy my love a coat of steel,
Is go dtearn tu, a mhuirnin, slan.

"I'll dye my petticoats a burning red,
And round the world I'll earn my bread (reference to prostitution),
Until my parents shall wish me dead,
Is go dtearn tu, a mhuirnin, slan."

Mudlark's version is fascinating, because the original has suffered a kind of Chinese Whispers change, so the Irish phrase becomes nonsense, and yet the reference in the original to the boy going to fight in France is retained in the Johnny's gone for a soldier-o version.

After the Battle of the Boyne and the Battle of Aughrim, in the 1690s, most of the sons of the native Irish aristocracy and middle classes were given incentives to go abroad, where they enlisted en masse in the armies of Spain and France.

HTML line breaks added. --JoeClone, 5-Jul-02.