[Intro]
C F C F
[Verse]
C G
On the first day of May at the close of the day
C G
As I stood in the shade of a green spreading tree
C F
A young lover a-courting a maiden I spied
G C
I drew very near them to hear and to see
[Verse]
Am G
The dress that he wore was a velvet so green
Am C G
All trimmed with gold lace and as bright as the sea
C Am
And he said, “Love, I'll make you my own fairy queen
F G C
If you are but willing to go with me
[Verse]
G
“Lisses and forts shall be at your command
C G
The mountains and valleys, the land and the sea
C F
And the billows that roar along the seashore
G C
If you are but willing to go with me
[Verse]
Am G
“To make me a queen, my birth is too mean
Am C G
And you will get ladies of higher degree
C Am
I know not your name nor from whence you came
F G C
So I am not willing to go with thee”
[Verse]
G
“I will tell you my name, and I love you the same
C G
As if you were a lady of higher degree
MacAnanty's my name and from Scrabo I came
F G C
And the queen of that country, my love, you shall be”
[Verse]
Am G
“If I were to go with one I don't know
Am C G
My parents and friends would be angry with me
C Am
They'd bring me back again with shame and disdain
F G C
So I am not willing to ramble with thee”
[Verse]
G
“From your friends we will sail in a ship that won't fail
C G
With a silken topsail and a wonderful flight
Am C
And from misty Coleraine, to France and to Spain
F G C
Then back home again in one short night
[Verse]
Am G
“For there is not a fort from this to the north
Am C G
But we'll dance all around it and sing merrily
C Am
And the lads of Queen Anne shall be at your command
F G C
And they will all stand in great dread of thee
[Verse]
G
“For it's many's the mile I have roamed in my time
F C G
By land and by sea a-looking for thee
C Am
For I ne'er could find rest nor peace to my mind
F G C
Until fortune proved kind and sent you to me”