"Her Mantle So Green" lyrics

As I went out walking one morning in June
To view the fair fields and the valleys in bloom
I spied a pretty fair maid she appeared like a queen
With her costly fine robes and her mantle so green

Says I, "My pretty fair maid, won't you come with me
We'll both join in wedlock, and married we'll be
I will dress you in fine linen, you'll appear like a queen
With your costly fine robes and your mantle so green."

Says she, "Now, my young man, you must be excused
For I'll wed with no man, so you must be refused
To the green woods I will wander and shun all men's view
For the boy I loved dearly lies in famed Waterloo."

"Well, if you're not married, say your lover's name
I fought in that battle, so I might know the same."
"Draw near to my garment and there you will see
His name is embroidered on my mantle so green."

In the ribbon of her mantle there I did behold
His name and his surname in letters of gold
Young William O'Riley appeared in my view
He was my chief comrade back in famed Waterloo

And as he lay dying I heard his last cry
'If you were here, lovely Nancy, I'd be willing to die;'
And as I told her this story, in anguish she flew
And the more that I told her, the paler she grew

So I smiled on my Nancy, 'twas I broke your heart
In your father's garden, that day we did part
And this is a truth, and the truth I declare
Well, here is your love token, the gold ring I wear