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 had been as long as a year'

'Twas early next morning the sailor arose
And into her apron he put handfuls of gold
Saying 'Take this and keep it for the wrong that I've done 
For this night I may have left you with a daughter or a son'

'And if it be a girl child dandle her on your knee
And if it be a male child call him after me
And when he is a man, you can dress him up in blue
He'll skip up the rigging like his daddy used to do' 

And it's home boys, home!
Home I'd like to be, home for a while, in me own country
Where the oak and the ash and the bonny elm tree
They are all a-growin' green in me own country