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A Wager a Wager Lyrics

"A wager, a wager, a wager I will lay,
I will lay you five hundred to one,
That you don't follow me unto yonder blooming tree
Or a maiden you never shall return."
"A wager, a wager with you, kind sir,
With your five hundred pound to my ten,
That a maid I will go to yon merry green broom,
And a maid I will boldly return."

Now when that she came to this merry green broom,
Found her true love was fast in a sleep,
With a fine finished rose, and a new suit of clothes,
And a bunch of green broom at his feet.
So they both jogged along unto yonder blooming tree,
The weather being very mild and warm.
And he became quite weary, he sat down for to rest,
Then he fell fast asleep upon the ground.

Then three time she went from the crown of his head,
And three times from the sole of his feet.
And three times she kissed his red rosy cheeks,
As he lay fast in a sleep.
Then nine times she walked the place all around,
And nine times she walked it all round,
And nine times she kissed his red and rosy cheeks
As he lie fast asleep upon the ground.
Then she took a gold ring from off of her hand,
And put that on his right thumb,
And that was to let her true love to know
That she had been there and was gone.
Then a ring from her finger she earnestly drew
And placed it on her true love's right hand,
Saying, "This shall be a token for my true love when he wakes,
He will find that I have been but now I'm gone."

As soon as he awoke from his drowsy, drowsy sleep,
And found his true love had been there and gone,
It was then he remembered upon the cost,
When he thought of the wager that he'd lost.

Three times he called for his horse and his man,
The horse he'd once bought so dear,
Saying, "Why didn't you wake me out of my sleep,
When my lady, my true love, was here?
"Three times did I call to you, master, me dear,
And three times did I blow with my horn,
But out of your sleep I couldn't you awake
Till your lady, your true love, was gone.

"Oh, had I been awake when my true love was here,
Of her I would have my will;
If not, the pretty birds in this merry green broom
With her blood they should have all had their fill."
"If I had been awake love, when I was fast asleep,
Of you I would have had my will,
Oh you I would have killed and your blood I would have spilled,
And the small birds should all have had their fill."

"Be cheerful, be cheerful and do not repine,
For naught is as clear as the sun.
|: The money, the money, the money it is mine,
The wager I fairly have won. :|"
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