At length, all on us to bed vos sent,
The boy vos missing—in search ve vent:
Ve sought him above, ve sought him below,
Ve sought him vith faces of grief and woe;
Ve sought him that hour, ve sought him that night;
Ve sought him in fear, and ve sought him in fright,
Ven a young pauper cried “I knows ve shall
Get jolly vell vopt for losing our pal.”
Oh the Poor Vorkhouse Boy, etc.
Ve sought in each corner, each crevice ve knew;
Ve sought down the yard, ve sought up the flue;
Ve sought in each kettle, each saucepan, each pot,
In the water-butt look’d, but found him not.
And veeks roll’d on;—ve vere all of us told,
That somebody said, he’d been burk’d and sold;
Ven our master goes out, the Parishioners vild,
Cry “There goes the cove that burk’d the poor child.”
Oh the Poor Vorkhouse Boy, etc.
At length the soup copper repairs did need,
The Coppersmith came, and there he seed,
A dollop of bones lay a grizzling there,
In the leg of the breeches the poor boy did year!
To gain his fill the boy did stoop,
And, dreadful to tell, he was boil’d in the soup!
And ve all of us say, and ve say it sincere,
That he was push’d in there by an overseer.
Oh the Poor Vorkhouse Boy, etc.
THE WILD ROVER.
I’ve been a wild rover these seven long years,
I’ve spent all my money in ale and strong beers,
But the time has come my boys, to take better care,
Unless poverty happens to fall to my share.
Chorus.
So therefore I’ll lay up my money in store,
And I never will play the wild rover any more;
Wild rover, wild rover, wild rover, any more,
And then I will play the wild rover no more.
I went to an ale house where I used to resort,
I began for to tell them my money got short;
I asked them to trust me, but their answer was nay,
Such customers as you we may have every day.
Then my hands from my pockets I pulled out straightway,
Pulled a handful of gold out to hear what they’d say,
O! here’s ale, wine, and brandy, here’s enough of the best,
It was only to try you, I was but in jest.