Another version of the above song, from the sheet music in the Levy Collection:


ISABELLA AND HER GINGHAM UMBRELLA
Words and music by Harry Clifton, 1864.

1. When you hear my ditty, my woes you will pity.
I'm engaged in the city from ten till three,
But I've been betrayed by a fascinating maid
Who was boss of a sewing machine, do you see?
Her eyes were as black as the pips of a pear.
No rose in the garden with her cheeks could compare.
She'd a gingham umbrella; her name was Isabella,
And her father kept a barber's ship in South Boston.

2. On a Monday afternoon in the latter part of June
From the Parker House I started for a sail to Chelsea,
And as we drew near to Chelsea Ferry pier,
A lovely lady I chanced to see.
In her hands a nosegay; 'twas a bundle of stocks,
A brown paper parcel and a blue bonnet-box.
She'd a gingham umbrella; her name was Isabella,
And her father kept a barber's ship in South Boston.

3. I rushed to the gangway and proffered my assistance.
O the smile that she gave me as I handed her a seat!
I sat down beside her; she offered no resistance.
We talked of the weather, the rain and the heat.
I asked her her parents; I asked her their trade.
I asked her her name, with a look half afraid.
She raised her umbrella, said "My name is Isabella,
And my father keeps a barber's shop in South Boston."

4. Before we parted, she'd all my affection.
I inquired, "Should I see her at some future day?"
She simpered, and smiled, and said, "She'd no objection."
As light as a fairy she tripped it away.
So we were engaged in a regular way.
My time passed as happy as the flowers in May
When I thought of Isabella and her gingham umbrella
And her father's little barber's shop in South Boston.

5. I took her to see the Organ with a ticket of admission.
I took her up to Parker's and give her an oyster stew.
I took her to the museum to see the exhibition,
And then we rode out to Brighton too.
O the presents I made, and the letters I wrote,
From the first time I met her on a ferry boat!
My darling Isabella, and her gingham umbrella,
Whose father kept a barber's shop in South Boston.

6. When you hear the sequel, you'll say it has no equal
In all the annals of woman's deceit.
I went one night to meet my Isabel,
But no Isabel was there to meet.
I searched far and wide till I happened to drop
In at Lyceum Hall, at a fifty-cent hop.
Oh, there was Isabella, with a ginger-whiskered fellow
Doing "double shuffles" up in South Boston.

7. I staggered with surprise, then exclaimed, "Isabella!
Do I look like a fool? Do you take me for a flat?"
She coolly replied, "Well, I rather think I do,
And if you don't like it, you can take your hat."
I rushed at my rival, satisfaction to get,
But found that my troubles had not ended yet,
For up jumped Isabella, with her gingham umbrella,
And she smashed my new hat over at South Boston.

8. I rushed back from the sight of the faithless spinster
In the Back Bay water repose to find,
But before I reached the toll gate out on the Milldam,
My opinions altered, and I changed my mind;
For folly must be paid for, and wisdom bought.
There are fishes in the sea that have never been caught.
So a fig for Isabella, and her gingham umbrella,
And her father's little barber's shop in South Boston!