The Merchant's Only Son

I am a merchant's only son; my age it is twenty-two.
I fell in love with a handsome girl, the truth I will tell to you.
Because I had money plenty and she of a low'r degree,
Which caused my parents for to frown and proved my destiny,

They sent me to America my fortune for to find;
They put me aboard the Austin that now lies in the deep.
But Providence proved kind to me, for a plank brought me to shore;
I'm in hopes to see that blooming girl in sweet Recail once more.

O when I landed on the shore, no comfort could I find
For thinking of that blooming girl that I had left behind.
Three days in torment there I spent, my misery was great;
I was thinking of the cruel friends that sent me from Recail.

'Twas on the fourth morning just at the break of day
When a handsome girl stepped up to me and unto me did say,
"Where are you from, my blooming youth, . . . . . . . .
Or are you from the heavens above, or where is your destiny?"

"I am a merchant's only son, the truth to you I'll tell;
My parents they are wealthy in the town of sweet Recail.
For the courting of a handsome girl they sent me far away;
I was shipwrecked on the Austin that now lies in the deep."

This lady fell in deep despair and unto me did say,
"O are you married to this girl that you have left behind?
For I have gold at my command, my riches they are great;
If you'll join with me in wedlock bands, you'll be lord of my estate."

"To join with you in wedlock bands is more than I can do,
For I have already promised to one that is true.
To a fair and handsome girl in the town of sweet Recail,
And there's no other breathing that shall ever my favor gain."

This lady fell in deep despair and unto me did say,
"Here is five hundred guineas in gold to bear you across the sea,
For love is far better than gold in this earthy store.
May the heavens above protect you back to sweet Recail once more."

From Ballads and Songs of Michigan, Gardner
Collected from Mrs. Robert Dunn, MI 1935
DT #764
Laws M21
RG
oct96