She had a dark and a-rovin' eye, uh, eye And her hair hung down in ring-a-lets She was a nice girl, a proper girl But one of the rovin' kind As I cruised out one evenin' upon a night's career I spied a lofty clipper ship and to her I did steer I heisted out my signals which she so quickly knew And when she saw my buntin' fly Ah, immediately hove to, woo, woo She had a dark and a-rovin' eye, uh, eye And her hair hung down in ring-a-lets She was a nice girl, a proper girl But one of the rovin' kind I took her for some fish and chips and treated her so fine And hardly did I realize she was the rovin' kind I kissed her lips, I missed her lips and found to my surprise
She was nothin' but a pirate ship rigged up in a disguise She had a dark and a-rovin' eye, eye, eye And her hair hung down in ring-a-lets She was a nice girl, a proper girl But one of the rovin' kind So come all ye good sailor men, who sail the wintry sea And come all ye apprentice lads, a warnin' take from me Beware of lofty clipper ships, they'll be the ruin of you For 'twas there she made me walk the plank And pushed me under, too, ooh, ooh She had a dark and a-rovin' eye, uh, eye And her hair hung down in ring-a-lets She was a nice girl, a proper girl But one of the rovin' kind She was a nice girl, a proper girl But one of the rovin' kind Yo, ho