Two pretty boys were goin' tae the school

And one evening coming home

Says William to John, Can you throw a stone

Or can you play at a ball, a ball, or can you play at a ball



Says John to William, I canna' throw a stone

Little can I play at a ball

But if you'll go down to a merry green woods

I'll try you a wrestlin' fall, a fall, I'll try you a wrestlin'

fall



So they went down tae a merry green woods

Beneath the spreadin' bough

The little penknife fell out of William's coat

And gave John his deadly wound, wound, and gave John his deadly

wound



Ah, now you'll take off your white Holland shirt

And teer it frae gore tae gore

And you will bind my deadly wounds

That they might bleed no more, no more, that they might bleed no

more



So he's ta'en off his white Holland shirt

And he's torn it frae gore tae gore

And though he's bound his deadly wounds

Ah, they bled ten times more, more, they bled ten times more



Ah but what shall I tell to your father dear

This night when I go home

Tell him I'm away to a London school

And a good scholar I'll come home, home, a good scholar I'll come

home



Ah but what shall I tell to your sister dear

This night when I go home

Tell her I'm away to a London school

And the good books I'll bring home, home, the good books I'll bring

home



Ah but what shall I tell to your sweetheart dear

This night when I go home

Tell her I'm dead and in the grave laid

And the grass is growin' green, green, the grass is growin' green



Ah but what shall I tell to your stepmother dear

This night when I go home

Tell her I'm dead and in the grave laid

For she prayed I might never come home, home, she prayed I might

never come home