One Evening In Summer, When Twilight Was Falling

One evening in summer, when twilight was falling
Down by the river I chanced for to roam
And there a young man sat a-weeping and wailing
And rocking a cradle that was not his own

Oh sweet baby lie easy
Your own Daddy will never be known
With a-weeping and wailing and rocking the cradle
Of somebody's baby that was not his own

It was first when I married your innocent mother
I thought, like a fool, I was blessed with a wife
It's now to my sorrow and sad lamentation
She's turned out this plague and the curse of my life

Oh sweet baby lie easy...

It's every night to some ball or dance-hall
While I am left with the baby alone
A poor innocent laddie who calls me his Daddy
Though little he knows that I am not his own

Oh sweet baby lie easy...

Come all you young fellows who one day may marry
Take my advice and leave woman alone
For by the Lord Harry, if ever you marry
She'll give you a baby and swear it's your own

Oh sweet baby lie easy
Your own Daddy will never be known
With a-weeping and wailing and rocking the cradle
Of somebody's baby that was not his own