William Taylor

Bold William Taylor.

I’ll sing you a song about two lovers,
Who from Lichfield town did come;
The Young man’s name was William Taylor,
The Maiden’s name was Sarah Dunn.

Now for a sailor William enlisted,
Now for a sailor William’s gone;
He’s gone and left his charming Sally,
All alone to make me mourn.

She dress’d herself in man’s apparel,
Man’s apparel she put on,
And for to seek her true lover,
For to find him she is gone.
One day as she was exercising,
exercising among the rest;
A silver locket flew from her jacket,
And exposed her milk-white breast.

Oh then the captain stepped up to her,
and asked her what brought her there;
All for to seek my own true lover,
For he has proved to me severe.

If you are come to find your lover,
You must tell to me his name.
His name is bold William Taylor
And from Lichfield town he came.

If your lover’s name is William Taylor,
He has proved to you severe;
He is married to a rich lady,
He was married the other year.

If you will rise early in the morning,
In the morning by the break of day;
There you will see bold William Taylor,
Walking with his lady gay.

Then she called for a brace of pistols,
A brace of pistols I command;
Then she shot bold William Taylor,
with his bride at his right hand.

O then the captain was well pleased,
Well pleased with what she’d done.
And soon she became a bold commander,
On board the ship with all the men.

Then the captain loved her dearly,
Loved her dearly as his life;
Then it was three days after,
Sarah became the captain’s wife.

*Transcriber’s note: Dugaw’s catalogue contains multiple variants of this ballad; this is the first of the variants listed. To review other variants of this ballad, please consult the Dugaw catalogue.

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BBO Roud Number: 158