On the banks of the roses my love and i sat down
And i took out my fiddle for to play my love a tune
And in the middle of the tune oh she smiled and she said:
“dear johnny, lovely johnny, would you leave me?”

When i was a young one i heard my father say
That he’d rather see me dead and buried in the clay
Sooner than be married to any runaway
By the lovely sweet banks of the roses

On the banks of the roses my love and i sat down
And i took out my fiddle for to play my love a tune
And in the middle of the tune oh she smiled and she said:
“dear johnny, lovely johnny, would you leave me?”

Well then i am a runaway and soon i’ll let him know
That i can take a bottle or can leave it alone
And if her daddy doesn’t like it he can keep his daughter at home
And then johnny will go roving with another

On the banks of the roses my love and i sat down
And i took out my fiddle for to play my love a tune
And in the middle of the tune oh she smiled and she said:
“dear johnny, lovely johnny, would you leave me?”

And when i get married it will be in the month of may
When the leaves they are green and the meadows they are gay
And me and my true love we’ll sit and sport and play
By the lovely sweet banks of the roses

On the banks of the roses my love and i sat down
And i took out my fiddle for to play my love a tune
And in the middle of the tune oh she smiled and she said…
“dear johnny, lovely johnny, would you leave me?”