Excellent collection of popular songs (1815-1825)/Lillies of the valley

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Lilies of the Valley.

O’er barren hills and flowery dales,
⁠O’er seas and distant shores,
With merry songs and jocund tales,
⁠I’ve pass’d some pleasant hours;
Tho' wand’ring thus, I ne’er could find
⁠A girl like blythsome Sally,
Who picks, and culls, and cries aloud,
⁠“ Sweet lilies of the valley.”

From whistling o’er the harrow’d turf,
⁠From nestling of each tree,
I chose a soldier’s life to wed,
⁠So social, gay, and free:
Yet tho’ the lasses love me well,
⁠And' often try to rally,
None pleases me like her who cries,
⁠“ Sweet lilies of the valley.”

I’m now return’d, of late discharg’d,
⁠To see my native soil;
From fighting in my country’s cause,
⁠To plough my country’s soil:
I care not which, with either pleas'd,
⁠So I possess my Sally,
That little merry nymph, who cries,
⁠Sweet lies of the valley.”