Adieu lovely Nancy, for now I must leave you,
To the far-off West Indies I'm bound for to steer.
But let my long journey be of no trouble to you,
For, my love, I'll return in the course of a year.
Talk not of leaving me here lovely Jimmy,
Talk not of leaving me here on the shore.
You know very well your long absence will grieve me,
As you sail the wild ocean where the wild billows roar.
I'll cut off my ringlets all curly and yellow,
I'll dress in the coats of a young cabin boy,
And while we are out on that dark, rolling ocean,
I will always be near you, my pride and my joy.
Your lily-white hands, they could not handle the cables.
Your lily-white feet to the top mast could not go.
And the cold winter storms, well you could not endure them.
Stay at home, lovely Nancy, where the wild winds won't blow.
As Jimmy set a-sailing, lovely Nancy stood a wailing,
The tears from her eyes in great torrents did flow.
As she stood on the beach oh her hands she was wringing,
Crying, "Oh and alas, will I e'er see you more?"
As Jimmy was a-walking on the quays of Philadelphia
The thoughts of his true love, they filled him with pride
He said, "Nancy, lovely Nancy, if I had you here, love
How happy I'd be for to make you my bride"
So Jimmy wrote a letter to his own lovely Nancy
Saying, "If you have proved constant, well, I will prove true"
Oh but Nancy was dying, for her poor heart was broken
Oh the day that he left her, forever he'd rue
Come all of you maidens, I pray, take a warning
And don't trust a sailor boy or any of his kind
For first they will court you and then they'll deceive you
For their love, it is tempestuous as the wavering wind