Johnny's the Lad I love
A variant of the Verdant Braes of Skreen
As I roved out on a May morning
Being in the youthful Spring
I leaned my back on a garden wall
To hear the small birds sing my dear,
To hear the small birds sing.
And to hear two lovers talk, my dear,
To know what they would say
That I might know some more of their mind
Before I'd go away, my dear,
Before I'd go away.
Come sit you down my heart he says
All on this pleasant green
Its full three quarters of a year or more
Since together we have been, he says,
Since together we have been.
I'll not sit on the grass she said,
Nor be a love of thine
For I hear you love a Connacht maid
And your heart's no longer mine, she said
And your heart's no longer mine.
Oh, I'll not marry a grey haired man
Who's days are well nigh done
And I'll not marry a younger man
For he's fair for many a one, she said
For he's fair for many a one.
But I will climb a high, high tree
And rob a wild bird's nest
And I'll bring back whate'er I find
To the arms I love the best, she said
To the arms I love the best.