It happened on one evening late,
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As the maid was going to bed,
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She heard a sound, a beautiful sound,
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That made her heart feel glad.
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She thought it was her brother John,
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Returning from the cane;
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But who should it be but Lord Henry,
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Just from his wild hunting.
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"Get down, get down, Lord Henry,
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And stay all night with me;
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For the very best lodging in Mulveren Town,
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The best I'll give to thee."
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"I won't get down, I shan't get down,
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To stay all night with you;
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For there's a prettier girl in the merry green lands,
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That I love much better than you."
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As he leaned o'er his milk-white steed
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And kisses gave her three,
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She held up a knife in her right hand
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And pierced him heartily.
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"O live, O live, Lord Henry,
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Half an hour or more;
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For the very best doctors in Mulveren Town,
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You'll soon be in their care."
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"O live, O live, how can I live,
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How can I live you see,
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When l can feel my own heart's blood,
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Come trinkling o'er my knee?"
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She called her waiting maids unto her
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To view his body so fair,
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Saying, "Of all this finery you see around here,
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The finest you shall wear."
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Some took him by his curly locks,
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Some by his hands and feet,
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And threw him in the cold, dark well,
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Which was both cold and deep
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"Lie there, lie there, Lord Henry,
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Till the flesh rots off your bones!
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That prettier girl in the merry green lands,
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Shall mourn for your return."
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There was a pretty parrot bird,
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Sitting high upon a limb,
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Saying, "You murdered Lord Henry,
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And in the well threw him."
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"Come down, come down, my pretty parrot bird,
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And sit on my right knee;
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Your cage shall be the finest gold,
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And the door of ivory."
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"I won't come down, I shan't come down,
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To sit on your right knee;
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For you have murdered Lord Henry,
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And soon you'd murder me"
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"I wish I had my bended bow,
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My arrow and my string;
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I'd pierce a dart so close your heart,
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Those notes no more you'd sing."
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"O if you had your bended bow,
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Your arrow and your string,
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I'd take my flight to the merry green lands
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And tell what I'd seen."
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-----------------
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Young Hunting (tranditional version)
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| Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds |
