One day in the summer as daylight was fading,
I went for a walk by the river alone;
There I met an old man who was weeping and wailing
And rocking a cradle that was not his own.

Singing, aidle-o-boy, sweet baby lie easy,
Your true daddy will never be known.
There'll be weeping and wailing
And rocking a cradle of somebody's baby
That is not your own.

When first I married your innocent mother
I thought, like a fool, I was blessed with a wife;
But to my misfortune and sad lamentation
She turned out the curse and the plague of my life.

Singing aidle-o-boy, etc.

'Twas every night to a ball or a party,
She left me here rocking the cradle alone;
An innocent baby now calls me his daddy,
And little he knows that I am not his own.

Singing aidle-o-boy, etc.

So all you young fellows who one day may marry,
Just take, my advice and leave women alone,
For by the Lord Harry if ever you marry,
She'll bring you a baby and swear it's your own.

Singing aidle-o-boy, etc.

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Kieran,
Co-Treasurer