Traditional
I Never Will Marry
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One morning as I rambled down by the seashore
The wind it did whistle and the waters did roar
I spied a fair damsel knelt down on the sand
She was reading a letter that she held in her hand

I heard this fair damsel make a pitiful sound
It sounded so lonesome in the waters around
My love’s gone and left me, the one I adore
He’s gone where I never shall see him no more

Shе was dressed like a maidеn
She is as fair as a queen
The handsomest lady My eyes ever seen
I asked her to marry if she would please
The answer she give me - my love’s overseas

I never will marry nor be no man's wife
I expect to live single all the days of my life
The shells in the ocean will be my deathbed
The fish in deep sea swims over my head

She plunged her fair body in the water so deep
She closed her blue eyes forever to sleep
A woman can prove true and do all she can
But there’s nothing in this world
So false as a man
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[Transcribed 6MAR2023, caj]