Tony Rose - Bold Archer lyrics

As I rode out one May morning, All at the dawning of the day, I heard two brothers making moan, And listened a while to what they did say. "We have a brother in prison," said they, "All in the prison lieth he. If we had ten men like ourselves We soon should set the prisoner free." "Oh no, oh no, Bold Dickie," he cried. "Oh no, oh no, it never can be, Forty men would be little enough And I to ride in their company. "Ten to hold the horses in, Ten to guard the city about, And ten to stand at the prison door, And ten to let Bold Archer out." So they mounted their horses and so rode they, Who but they so merrily? They rode till they came to the riverside And there they alighted so manfully. They mounted their horses and so swam they, Who but they so manfully? They swam till they came the the other side And there they alighted so drippingly. They mounted their horses and so rode they, Who but they so gallantly! Rode till they came to the prison door And there they alighted so daringly. "Oh Archer, oh Archer," Bold Dickie he cried, "Oh, look you not so mournfully I've forty men in my company And we are come to set you free." "Oh no, oh no," poor Archer he cried, "Oh no, oh no, it never can be, I've forty weight of good Spanish iron Between my ankle and my knee." But Dickie broke locks and Dickie broke keys, And Dickie broke everything he could see. He took the Bold Archer under his arm And carried him out so manfully. And they mounted their horses and so rode they, Who but they so gallantly? They rode till they came to the riverside And there they alighted so daringly. "Oh Dickie, oh Dickie," Bold Archer he cried, "Take my love to my wife and my children three, My horse it is lame, he cannot swim, And here I fear that I must die." They changed their horses and so swam they, Who but they so gallantly? Swam till they came to the other side, And there they alighted so shiveringly. "Oh Dickie, oh Dickie," Bold Archer he cried, "Look you yonder there and see, I think I see the old sheriff a-coming A hundred men in his company." "Dickie, oh Dickie," the sheriff he cried, "You are the worst rascal that ever I see. Give me back the iron you stole And I will set the prisoner free." "I am like an owl that flies by night, And I will fly from tree to tree. The iron will do to shoe our horses: The blacksmith rides in our company." "Oh Dickie, oh Dickie," the sheriff he cried, "You are the worst rascal ever I see." "Thank you for nothing," Bold Dickie he cried, "And you are a fool for following me."