From Christy's Bones and Banjo Melodist by George N. Christy (New York: Dick & Fitzgerald, 1862), page 56:

[Note: No chorus is indicated.]

DIAMOND RING
As sung by Christy's Minstrels

1. I'll sing you in my song,
Of a gay young cavalier,
Who once upon a time lived
In this town right here.
His name was Charles Augustus,
And divinely he could sing
He was clerk in a dry-goods store,
And he wore a diamond ring.

2. He wore a black moustache
His hair hung round in curls
Oh, he was the fellow to smash
The unsuspecting girls.
He'd meet them in the street.
Sly glances they would fling
At the handsome ladies' man,
For he wore a diamond ring.

3. To parties he would go,
And with the ladies flirt.
He was such a charming beau,
The girls would all assert.
Had plenty of cash on hand,
And all that sort of thing.
He drove a two-forty horse,
And he sported a diamond ring.

4. Now things went on quite well.
Our hero cut a dash,
Like many a dandy swell,
On his employer's cash.
But his salary was too small
These luxuries to bring.
He had the run of the drawer,
And he wore a diamond ring.

5. Now at last suspicion rose
In his employer's mind
That Charles Augustus's clothes
Were altogether too fine.
So a watch was set one day
To stop that sort of thing,
And our dry-goods clerk was caught,
Coming this, with his diamond ring.

6. So our dry-goods clerk was taken,
And before a court was tried;
And as his case was clear,
His guilt was not denied.
They sent him for his health
To the village of Sing Sing
To play chequers with his nose
Without any diamond ring.