A wealthy squire lived in our town
He was a man of very high renown
He had a daughter, a beauty bright
And the name he called her was his Heart's Delight

And many is the young man to court her came
But none of them could her favor gain
'Til there came one of the low degree
And among them all she did fancy he

But when her father he came to know
That his lovely daughter loved this young man so
Over fifty miles he sent her away
All to deprive her of her wedding day

One night as she lay in her bedroom
Her love appeared from out the gloom
He touched her hand and to her did say
'Arise my darling and come away.'

With this young man she got on behind
And they rode swifter than any wind
They rode on for an hour or more
'Til he cried, 'My darling, my head feels sore!'

Her Holland handkerchief she then took out
And with it wrapped his aching head about
She kissed his lips and to him did say
'My love you are colder than any clay.'

When they arrived at her father's gate
He cried, 'Get down love the hour is late!
Get down get down love and go to bed
And I'll see this noble horse is groomed and fed.'

When she arrived in her father's hall
'Who's there, who's there?' her own father called
'It is I dear father you sent for me;
My love was the messenger was sent by thee.'

'Oh no my daughter that ne'er can be
Your words are false and you lie to me;
For on yon far mountain your true love died
And in yon green graveyard his body lies.'

The truth had dawned upon this maiden brave
And with her friends she exposed the grave
Where lay her love although nine months dead
With the Holland handkerchief around his head