The Girl I Left Behind

Lyrics

There was a rich old farmer lived in the country nigh He had one only daughter on her I cast my eye She was so tall and slender so delicate and so fair No other girl in the neighbourhood with her I could compare I asked if it made any difference if I crossed over the main She says it makes no difference if you'll come back again She promised she'd be true to me until death's parting timе So we kissed shook hands and parted and I lеft my girl behind Straightway I sailed from old Ireland to Glasgow I did go Where the work and money was plentiful and the whiskey it did flow Where the work and money was plentiful and the girls all treated me kind But the girl I left behind me was always on my mind One day as I went walking down by the public square The mail boat had arrived and the postman met me there He handed me a letter which gave me to understand That the girl I left behind me was married to another man I stopped and gazed around me my heart was filled with fear O oftentimes she promised me that she would prove sincere On the Sunday of our parting 'twas on the Book she swore That she would wed no other man and she vowed it o'er and o'er I advanced a few steps forward full knowing these words to be true My mind being bent on rambling I didn't know what to do My mind being bent on rambling this wide world to see o'er I left my dear old parents perhaps to see no more Straightway I sailed to old New York strange faces for to see Where Handsome Peggy Walker she fell in love with me My pocket being empty I thought it was full time For to stop with her and think no more on the girl I left behind One day as I sat musing she says my boy don't grieve For I have money in plenty to support both you and me Your pocket will be laden hard labour you can give o'er If you'll agree to marry me and rambling go no more Well if should agree to marry you I would be much to blame Your friends and your relations would look on me with shame And I mean to see my parents before that they resign And to bid farewell and a last adieu to the girl I left behind Well if all that you reveal be true our friendship's at an end Since first you came to this country I've always proved your friend You had my money at your command when fortune seemed to frown And my boy's cause I still maintained when others ran you down At this my heart it did relent for what she said was true And I promised for to marry her, oh what else could I do ? Now Peggy's mistress of my heart she loving and she's kind But the perjured vows I'll ne'er forget of the girl I left behind