There was an apprentice lived in Strawberry Lane
She was loved by her master and her mistress the same
Until a young sailor came sailing o'er the sea
And that was the start of her misery
This young maid being innocent she thought it no harm
For to go into bed, for to keep his back warm
He hugged her and he kissed her and he called her his dear
Saying, I wish that this night were as long as a year
It was early next morning this sailor arose
And into her apron he put handfuls of gold
Saying, take this and keep it for the wrong that I have done
For this night I may have left you with a daughter or a son
And if he'd be a girl child, dandle her on your knee
And if he'd be a male child, call him after me
And when he is a man, you can dress him up in blue
And he'll skip up the rigging like his daddy used to do
And it's home, boys, home, and it's home I'd like to be
It's home for a while in my own country
Where the oak and the ash and the bunny and I'm three
They are all a-growing green in my own country