When I learnt this song a long while ago it included the "I'll not heed ..." verse, as also recalled (with somewhat different words) by MtheGM. Only now following some of the links further up this thread do I discover that some versions lack that verse.

I have never been sure which party is saying some of the things. "I'll not heed ..." is probably the girl speaking, but could be the boy telling her not to believe what she's heard about him. Where some versions have "back I'll bring ... she said", the lovely version from Mai Hernon has "back I'll bring whatever I shall find to the girl ...". So there is indeed uncertainty.

The alleged new lover is often said to be a "Connaught" maid, but in the version that I first heard it sounded more like "Garnock" and both the Hernon and Dillon versions sound to me like "Carnock". Anyone have theories about that?

Richard