Dorothy Edwards was always a good girl,
She always did as she was told,
She never would argue or scold,
Was always polite and controlled,
She worked at the granary down by the nunnery,
Grinding the grain into flour,
Never a moan or a frown,
'till the soldiers they came into town.
Now everyday she tends the grave of Private Ellis Brent,
Remembering the fleeting time they spent,
Beneath the boughs,
And she plucks the weeds and sews the seeds of a lifetime wearing black,
And she can't believe he's never coming back,
Not even now,
She can't believe he's never coming back.
They met in December, they married in March,
And by April he'd gone off to war,
She cried 'till her eyes were sore,
Her smile wasn't seen anymore,
And the letters he wrote always spoke of his love,
And his longing to be back at home,
But she never would see him again,
Not since the telegraph came.
Now everyday she tends the grave of Private Ellis Brent,
Remembering the fleeting time they spent,
Beneath the boughs,
And she plucks the weeds and sews the seeds of a lifetime wearing black,
And she can't believe, he's never coming back,
Not even now,
She can't believe, he's never coming back.
On the day that he died he appeared back at home with a fright in his eye,
Told his Dotty "it's time to get on with your life" and then said "goodbye".
But she waited and waited for 52 years,
As she tended his grave every day,
This small patch of ground was her all,
Shed buried her heart and her soul,
And finally Dorothy died and the stonemason cut a new line underneath,
It said "pa**er-by do not weep, we are reunited in our sleep".
Now nobody will tend the grave of Private Ellis Brent,
And Dorothy is with him once again, among the stars,
And the weeds have grown and the seeds she's sewed have swallowed up the ground
But Dorothy will never weep again,
No, Dorothy will never weep again.