The Banks Of The Nile

O hark, the drums do beat, my love, we can no longer tarry

The bugle calls are sounding and we must march away

We're ordered down to portsmouth town for many a weary mile

To join the british army on the banks of the nile

O willie, dearest william, don't leave me here to mourn

For i must curse and rue the day that ever i was born

For parting from our love would be like parting from my life

So stay at home, dear william, and i will be your wife

O my nancy, dearest nancy, sure that would never do

The government has ordered and we are bound to go

The government has ordered, and the queen, she gives command

And i am bound away, my love, to serve in a foreign land

Then i'll cut off my yellow hair and go along with you

I'll dress myself in uniform and i'll see egypt too

I'll march beneath your banner while fortune it do smile

And we'll comfort one another on the banks of the nile

My curse attend the cruel war and the hour that it began

For it has robbed our countrie of many a gallant man

They've robbed us of our sweethearts, protectors of the soil

Their blood does steep the grass that's deep on the banks of the nile

And when the war is over, love, back home i'll then return

Until my wife and family i've left behind to mourn

We'll take up the plough, my boys, and till the fertile soil

No more we'll go a-roving on the banks of the nile