Long Years Ago?

Long years ago,when I was young
The lambs did play and the birds they sung
A sailor and his lovely bride
Lay sleeping by the ocean side.

It's scarce six months since we were wed
And oh how quick the time has sped
And I must go, at the break of day
On the big ship waiting out in the bay.

The time goes by and he comes no more
While she sits waiting by the ocean shore
His ship went down in the howling of the storm
And the waves conceal his lifeless form.

I wish that I were with him too,
Beneath the waves of the ocean blue
I'd lie asleep at the bottom of the sea
And let the great green waves beat over me.

I learned this from a compilation LP entitled 'A Pinch of Salt - British Sea Songs Old and New' in 1960/61. It was sung by Shirley Collins and the sleeve notes say she'd learned it from John Hasted who collected it from a soldier during the second word war.