Palmer has little to say about the ballad: In balladry, press-gangs are almost invariably shown in an unfavourable light. ... 'The Press'd Man's Lamentation' (see illustration) represents the norm. The press-gang effectively ceased to be used after 1815....

There is a photograph of the sheet from Derby PL and I give the text below.

Mick

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THE PRESSED MAN'S LAMENTATION

Farewell our Daddies and our Mammies,
Out friends & relations we must bid adieu,
For the Press-gang they have press'd us,
For to fight our daring Foe:
Now the bloody War's beginning,
Many thousands will be slain,
And it more than ten to one,
If any of us return again.

To hear the cries in every city,
Likewise in every market Town.
'Twill make your heart to bleed with pity,
For to hear the press'd men moan:
Now we are press'd and put in Prison,
Where for a season we must stay,
Till the bloody war calls for us,
For to cross the raging sea.

It grieves us fore to leave our parents.
Likewise our wives and children dear;
To hear them round the prison crying,
From our eyes brings floods of tears,
It must be a dreadful meeting,
When we quit this british shore.
When we go to the field of battle,
Where the thundering cannons roar.

Now, good people, give attention,
To these lines which here are penn'd,
And the wars may soon be over,
That we may soon return again;
To be a comfort to our wives,
And enjoy our children dear,
But in the wars there is great danger,
Many of us will be killed I fear.


Source: Roy Palmer The Sound of History, photo of sheet in Derby PL