He woke up on a riverbank on a fine May morning
And there he spied a lady swimming in the clothes that she was born in
So he raised his head from his green bed and he approached the maid
"Put on your clothes, my dear," he says, "and do not be afraid
It's fitter for a lady fair to sew a silken seam
Than to rise on a fair May morning and swim against the stream."
"Well if you'll not touch my mantle and you'll leave my clothes alone,
Then I'll give you all the money, sir that you can carry home."
"I'll not touch your mantle and I'll leave your clothes alone,
But I'll take you out of the clear water, my dear, to be my own"
And he's taken her out of the clear water and he's rowed her in his arms
"Put on your clothes, my dear," he says, "and hide your bounteous charms."
He's put her on a milk white steed, himself upon another
And it's all along the way they rode like sister and like brother.
She rode up to her father's gate and she's rapped upon the pin,
And ready stood a porter there to let the fair maid in.
When the gates were opened, it's so nimbly she stepped in
She said, "Kind sir, you are a fool without and I'm a maid within
So fare thee well, my modest boy, I thank you for your care
But had you done as you desired, I'd never have left you there.
I will sew no silken seam on a fine May morning.
You can bide your time till your time runs out, so take this as fair warning.
I will sew no silken seam on a fine May morning.
You can bide your time till your time runs out, so take this as fair warning."