Lyrics One Morning in May (aka the Nightingale) - Jean Ritchie

One Morning in May (aka the Nightingale)

One morning, one morning
One morning in May
I met a fair couple a makin' their way
Oh one was a lady
So neat and so fair
The other was a soilder
And a brave volunteer
Good morning, good morning
Good morning to thee
Oh where are you going
My pretty lady
I’m a walking by the banks of the stream
To see the waters a gliding
Hear the nightingale sing
They had not been standing
But an hour or two
When out of his napsack
A fiddle he drew
And the tune that he played
Made the valleys all ring
O harken, said the lady
How the nightingale sing
Pretty lady, pretty lady
It’s time to give o’er
Oh no pretty soilder
Please play one tune more
For I’d rather hear your fiddle
Or the touch of one string
Than see the water’s a gliding
Hear the nightingale sing
Pretty soilder, pretty soilder
Won’t you marry me
Oh no pretty lady
That never can be
I have a wife in London
And children twice three
Two wives in the army’s
Too many for me
I’ll go back to London
And stay there one year
And often I’ll think of you
My little dear
And if ever I return it shall be in the Spring
To see the water’s a gliding
Hear the nightingale sing