On the banks of the roses me love and I sat down And I took out me fiddle for to play me love a tune In the middle of the tune-o she sighed and she said "Oh Johnny, lovely Johnny don't ya leave me" When I was a young boy I heard me father say That he'd rather see me dead and buried in the clay Sooner than be married to any runaway By the lovely sweet banks of the roses On the banks of the roses me love and I sat down And I took out me fiddle for to play me love a tune In the middle of the tune-o she sighed and she said "Oh Johnny, lovely Johnny don't ya leave me" And then I am no runaway and soon I'll let them know That I can take a bottle or can leave it alone If her daddy doesn't like it, he can keep his daughter at home And young Johnny will go rovin' with some other On the banks of the roses me love and I sat down I took out me fiddle for to play me love a tune In the middle of the tune-o she sighed and she said "Oh Johnny, lovely Johnny don't ya leave me" When I get married 'twill be in the month of May When the leaves they are green and the meadows they are gay And me and me true love we'll sit and sport and play By the lovely sweet banks of the roses On the banks of the roses me love and I sat down And I took out me fiddle for to play me love a tune In the middle of the tune-o she sighed and she said "Oh Johnny, lovely Johnny don't ya leave me" On the banks of the roses me love and I sat down I took out me fiddle for to play me love a tune In the middle of the tune-o she sighed and she said "Oh Johnny, lovely Johnny don't ya leave me" "Oh Johnny, lovely Johnny don't ya leave me"