Peggy Bawn (Edinburgh)/Young William

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Young William.

Young William was a seamen true,
The darling of our bonny crew,
For blythe was he and kind;
For though no lagging lubber he,
Right loth he was to go to sea,
For Jane he left behind.

And Jenny lov’d, but all by stealth,
Her father had much store of wealth,
Of Will he would not hear;
Till cruel chance at length reveal'd
The passion they so long conceal'd,
And William lost his dear.

A friendly voice poor William hail’d,
A ruffian gang the youth assail'd,
’Twas done by cursed gold;
The tender for the offing stood,
The cutter skimm'd the yielding flood,
The hatch’d him in the hold.

She, troubled, walks the beach in haste,
And troubled look’d the watery waste,
And by the floating wave,
A corpse was wash'd upon the shore,
'Twas William! and with tears they bore,
Two lovers to the grave.