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Little Sir William
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Easter day was a holiday
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Of all days of the year,
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And all the little schoolfellows went out to play
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But Sir William was not there.
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Mamma went to the School wife house
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And knocked at the ring,
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Saying, "Little Sir William, if you are there,
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Pray let your mother in."
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The School wife open'd the door and said:
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-He is not here today.
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He is with the little schoolfellows out on the green
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Playing some pretty play.
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Mamma went to the Boyne water
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That is so wide and deep,
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Saying
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-Little Sir William, if you are there,
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Oh pity your mother's weep.
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-How can I pity your weep, mother,
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And I so long in pain?
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For the little pen knife sticks close to my heart
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And the School wife hath me slain.
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-Go home, go home, my mother dear,
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And prepare my winding sheet,
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For tomorrow morning before eight o'clock,
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You with my body shall meet.
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-And lay my Prayer Book at my head,
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And my grammar at my feet,
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That all the little schoolfellows as they pass by
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May read them for my sake.
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Little Sir William
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Sarah Brightman |