Oh it's of an old soldier come from sea,
His musket all over his shoulder.
And it's on pretty Peggy he cast his eye,
And she cast her eye on the soldier.
Oh me gold, me silver, it shall be thine,
I'll give yez all the gold in me plunder,
If you'll leave all your land, leave your husband dear,
And you'll sail all o'er the sea with the soldier.
John, her husband, he mounted his high horse back,
Expecting for to meet her by the water,
But when he got there it was late in the day,
And she'd fled o'er the sea with the soldier.
But they hadn't been sailing a week or more,
When her love, oh, it turned to anger.
He beat her and he kicked her, he called her "who*e,"
Sent her back to her John in the morning.
As Peggy walked up and as Peggy walked down,
People asked her where she was going.
She made not an answer, she couldn't tell where,
For she'd been o'er the sea with the soldier.
When Peggy got home, it was late in the night,
And she was ashamed to be seen.
It was under the window she listened a while
At her husband a-nursing the baby.
"Oh, rock-a-bye, little one, and don't you cry,
Your momma's gone and left you in sorrow.
And if she comes back, well, she can't stay here,
She can go back to sea with the soldier."
"Oh, open the door, love, and let me in,
And I'll never prove false any longer."
"You can go from me door, well, and leave me alone,
You can find you a home with your soldier."
John, her husband, he mounted his high horse back,
He rode till he came to the water.
He abus-ed the wind and the waters clear,
Sent Peggy over sea with the soldier.
He abus-ed the man that builded the boat,
Abus-ed the captain that sailed her.
He abus-ed the wind and the waters clear,
Sent Peggy over sea with the soldier.