This is a version called the Queen's Garden which is from the Bahamas. The words are slightly different than yours. I learned it from Alan Lomax's Folksongs of North America One day as I was going to school I bounced my ball so high I bounced it into the Queen's gardeen Where no one could see where it fall Come een, come een my brave young boy Come een and get your ball Oh no, oh no I can't come een Unless my school mates follow She showed him an apple as green as the grass She showed him a gay gold ring She showed him a kerchief as white as snow So she could entice him een She took him by the lily white hand She led him through the hall She led him into the green gardeen Where no one could hear when he hollered She brought a kerchief of linen fine A knife both long and keen She brought a basin of marble stone So she could entice him een
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