Oh father, dear father,

    you've done to me much wrong,

You've gone and got me married to a boy

    who is too young.

For he is only 16 years and I am 21,

Oh my darling boy is young but he's growing.



Oh daughter, dear daughter,

    it's you who have done wrong,

For you and he together have gone and got a son,

And he must have a father when I am dead and gone,

Oh your darling boy is young but he's growing.



One day as I was walking down by the college wall

I saw the young men they were playing football,

My true love was there, he was the finest of them all,

My darling boy is young but he's growing.



Another day I was walking down by the college wall,

I saw the pusher, he was making his call,

My true love was there, he was the palest of them all,

Oh the dealer put an end to his growing.



At the age of sixteen years he was a married man,

And at the age of seventeen, the father of a son,

    the grass grew over him,

The dealer put an end to his growing.



Oh the Springtime is past

    and the Summer's coming on,

It's earring, beads and bangles the young girls

    have put on,

Once I had a true love but now I have got none,

But I 'll watch over his son while he's growing.