Marty Robbins

[FullerH]

OK, this is only a poem, I don't think anyone ever sang it, but the story's the same --

]The Shooting of Dan McGrew​

--- Robert Service​

Damn, but I love the poems of Robert Service!

Tarsier, are you familiar with Hank Snow's "Squid Jiggin' Ground"? Snow was from Nova Scotia and many of his songs refer to that part of the world. "Squid Jiggin' Ground" is about jigging(or fishing) for squid on the Grand Banks and was recorded to honor the men with whom he had fished when working fishing boats out of Lunenburg, Nova Scotia. It is one of the finest evocations that I have ever seen of the men who sail from Nova Scotia and elsewhere to fish the North Atlantic. I spent two summers on the Digby Neck in Nova Scotia and became somewhat familiar with some of these guys, as the camp that I attended overlooked Fisherman's Cove on the Bay of Fundy so that we kids were frequently around and talking with the fishermen.

Hank Snow - Squid Jiggin' Ground
(written by: Arthur R. Scammell)

Buy this album!

Buy Hank Snow Posters!
From the album "The Singing Ranger, Vol. 2"

Oh this is the place where they're fishin' and gatherin',
Oil-skins and boots and the Cape hands batten down;
All sizes of figures with squid lines and jiggers,
They congregate here on the Squid Jiggin' Ground.

Some are workin' their jiggers, while others are yarnin',
There's some standin' up and there's more lyin' down;
While all kinds of fun, jokes and drinks are begun,
As they wait for the squid on the Squid Jiggin' Ground.

There's men of all ages and boys in the bargain,
There's old Billy Cave and there's young Raymond Brown;
There's Rip, Red and Gory out here in the dory,
A runnin' down squires on the Squid Jiggin' Ground.

There's men from the harbor, there's men from the tickle,
And all kinds of motor-boats, green, gray and brown;
Right yonder is Bobby and with him is Nobby,
He's chawin' hard tack on the Squid Jiggin' Ground.

God bless my soul, list to, there's Skipper John John Champy,
He's the best hand at squid jiggin' here, I'll be bound;
Hello, what's the row? Why he's jiggin' one now,
The very first squid on the Squid Jiggin' Ground.

The man with the whisker is old Jacob Steele,
He's gettin' well on, but he's still pretty sound;
While Uncle Bob Hockins wears six pairs of stockin's
Whenever he's out on the Squid Jiggin' Ground.

Holy Smoke! What a scuffle! All hands are excited,
It's a wonder to me that there's nobody drowned;
There's a bustle, confusion, the wonderful hustle,
They're all jiggin' squid on the Squid Jiggin' Ground.

Says Bobby, "The squids are on top of the water,
I just got me riggers 'bout one fathom down";
But a squid in the boat scuddered right down his throat,
And he swam like mad on the Squid Jiggin' Ground.

There's poor Uncle Louie, his whiskers are spattered
With spots of the squid juice that's flyin' around;
One poor little boy got it right in the eye,
But they don't give a darn on the Squid Jiggin' Ground.

Now, if you ever feel inclined to go squiddin',
Leave your white clothes behind in the town;
And if you get cranky without your silk hanky,
You'd better steer clear of the Squid Jiggin' Ground.

 

[shaldag]

At the risk of attracting Hungarians (or at least one) I have to say that one of the best cowboy songs is the Grateful Dead's Me and my Uncle:

Me and my uncle went riding down
South Colorado, West Texas bound
We stopped over in Santa Fe
That being the point just about half way
And you know it was the hottest part of the day

I took the horses up to the stall
Went to the bar-room, ordered drinks for all
Three days in the saddle, you know my body hurt
It being summer, I took off my shirt
And I tried to wash off some of that dusty dirt.

West Texas cowboys, they's all around
With liquor and money, they're loaded down
So soon after pay day, you know it seemed a shame
You know my uncle, he starts a friendly game
Hi-lo jacks and the winner take the hand

My uncle starts winning, cowboys got sore
One of them called him, and then two more
Accused him of cheating, well no it couldn't be
I know my uncle, he's as honest as me
And I'm as honest as a Denver man can be

One of them cowboys, he starts to draw
Well I shot him down, Lord, he never saw.
Shot me another, hot damn he won't grow old.
In the confusion my uncle grabbed the gold
And we high-tailed it down to Mexico

Now I love those cowboys, I love their gold
I love my uncle, God rest his soul
Taught me good, Lord, taught me all I know
Taught me so well, I grabbed that gold
And I left his dead ass there by the side of the road.

no romance, but a nice moral tale.

 

[Suerte]

Marty Robbins is my favorite. The El Pas triology (El Paso, El Paso City, and Feleena) is great. I like Feleena the best of the 3.

Feleena:

"Out in New Mexico, many long years ago
There in a shack on the desert, one night in a storm
Amid streaks of lightnin' and loud desert thunder
To a young Mexican couple, a baby was born;
Just as the baby cried, thunder and lightnin' died
Moon gave it's light to the world and the stars did the same
Mother and Father, both proud of the daughter
That heaven had sent them, Feleena was this baby's name.

When she was seventeen, bothered by crazy dreams
She ran away from the shack and left them to roam
Father and Mother, both asked one another
What made her run away, what made Feleena leave home;
Tired of the desert nights, poverty, grief and strife
She ran away late one night in the moon's golden gleam
She didn't know where she'd go, but she'd get there
And she would find happiness, if she would follow her dream.

After she ran away, she went to Sante Fe
And in the year that she stayed there, she learned about life
In just a little while, she learned that with a smile
She could have pretty clothes, she could be any man's wife;
Rich men romanced her, they dined and they danced her
She understood men and she treated them all just the same
A form that was fine and rare, dark shining glossy hair
Lovely to look at Feleena was this woman's name.

Restless in Sante Fe, she had to get away
To any town where the lights had a much brighter glow
One cowboy mentioned the town of El Paso
They never stopped dancin' and money like whiskey did flow;
She bought a one-way, a ticket from Sante Fe
Three days and nights on a stage with a rest now and then
She didn't mind that, she knew she would find that
Her new life would be more exciting than where she had been.

The stage made it's last stop, up there on the mountain top
To let her see all of the lights at the foot of the hill
Her world was brighter and deep down inside her
An uncontrolled beating, her young heart just wouldn't be still;
She got a hotel, a room at the Lily Belle
Quickly she changed to a form-fitting black satin dress
Ev'ry man stopped to stare, at this form fine and rare
Even the women remarked of the charm she possessed.

Dancin' and laughter, was what she was after
And Rosa's Cantina had lights, with love in the gleam
That's what she hunted and that's what she wanted
Rosa's was one place, a nice girl would never be seen;
It was the same way, it was back in Sante Fe
Men would make fools of themselves at the thought of romance
Rosa took heed of, the place was in need of
This kind of excitement, so she paid Feleena to dance.

A year passed and maybe more and then through the swingin' doors
Came a young cowboy so tall and so handsomely dressed
This one was new in town, hadn't been seen around
He was so different, he wasn't like all of the rest;
Feleena danced close to him, then threw a rose to him
Quickly he walked to her table and there he sat down
And in a day or so, wherever folks would go
They'd see this young cowboy, showin' Feelena the town.

Six weeks he went with her, each minute spent with her
But he was insanely jealous of glances she'd give
Inside he was a-hurtin', from all of her flirtin'
That was her nature and that was the way that she lived;
She flirted one night, it started a gun-fight
And after the smoke cleared away, on the floor lay a man
Feleena's young lover, had shot down another
And he had to leave there, so out through the back door he ran.

The next day at five o'clock, she heard a rifle shot
Quickly she ran to the door, that was facin' the pass
She saw her cowboy, her wild-ridin' cowboy
Low in the saddle, her cowboy was ridin' in fast;
She ran to meet him, to kiss and to greet him
He saw her and motioned her back, with a wave of his hand
Bullets were flyin', Feleena was cryin'
As she saw him fall from the saddle and into the sand.

Feleena knelt near him, to hold and to hear him
When she felt the warm blood that flowed from the wound in his side
He raised to kiss her and she heard him whisper
"Never forget me - Faleena it's over, goodbye."
Quickly she grabbed for, the six-gun that he wore
And screamin' in anger and placin' the gun to her breast
Bury us both deep and maybe we'll find peace
And pullin' the trigger, she fell 'cross the dead cowboy's chest.

Out in El Paso, whenever the wind blows
If you listen closely at night, you'll hear in the wind
A woman is cryin', it's not the wind sighin'
Old timer's tell you, Feleena is callin' for him;
You'll hear them talkin' and you'll hear them walkin'
You'll hear them laugh and you'll look, but there's no one around
Don't be alarmed - there is really no harm there
It's only the young cowboy, showin' Feleena the town."

 

[FullerH]

My other favorite song from his "Gunfighter Ballads" album is "Big Iron", even though I know that the walk-down shoot-out that it describes, as in the TV show"Gunsmoke", was more Hollywood than real history.

Big Iron
Marty Robbins

To the town of Agua Fria rode a stranger one fine day
Hardly spoke to folks around him, didn't have too much to say,
No one dared to ask his business, no one dared to make a slip
The stranger there among them had a big iron on his hip,
big iron on his hip

It was early in the morning when he rode into the town
He came riding from the south side, slowly lookin' all around
"He's an outlaw loose and runnin'", came a whisper from each lip
"And he's here to do some business with a big iron on his hip,
big iron on his hip"

In this town there lived an outlaw by the name of Texas Red
Many men had tried to take him and that many men were dead
He was vicious and a killer, though a youth of twenty four
And the notches on his pistol numbered one and nineteen more,
one and nineteen more

Now the stranger started talkin' made it plain to folks around
Was an Arizonia ranger, wouldn't be too long in town
He was here to take an outlaw back alive or maybe dead
And he said it didn't matter that he was after Texas Red,
after Texas Red

Wasn't long before this story was relayed to Texas Red
But the outlaw didn't worry, men who tried before were dead
Twenty men had tried to take him, twenty men had made a slip,
Twenty one would be the ranger with the big iron on his hip,
big iron on his hip

Now the morning past so quickly and it was time for them to meet
It was twenty past eleven when they rode out in the street
Folks were watchin' from their windows,
every body held their breath,
They knew this handsome ranger was about to meet his death,
about to meet his death

There was twenty feet between them
when they stopped to make their play
And the swiftness of the Ranger still talked about today
Texas Red had not cleared leather when a bullet fairly ripped
And the ranger's aim was deadly, with the big iron on his hip,
big iron on his hip

It was over in a moment and the crowd all gathered 'round
There before them lay the body of the outlaw on the ground
Oh, he might have went on livin' but he made one fatal slip
When he tried to match the ranger with the big iron on his hip,
big iron on his hip

Big iron, big iron,
Oh he tried to match the ranger with the big iron on his hip,
Big iron on his hip

 

[java]

"My Girl Bill"


G2

I also have the Complete collection of Marty Robbins on CD, great singer!

Um, sorry to digress but G2 how did Jim Stafford pop up here??? Been into the Wildwood Weed again there? Favorite Jim was 15 little red noses and a horse that sweats Loved everything Marty Robbin's did. A White Sport Coat and a Pink Crustacean....wait a minute that was Buffett, a guy who tried starting in country and had to make his own musical niche. Meanwhile back at the thread a dazed and confused (no wait that's Zepellin (Led and not Dred)) Java cries plaintively, "Well what about Johnny Horton???? I thought he was pretty good. And one of his songs was for a John Wayne movie....and.. and don't leave out Charlie Pride either!

 

[Esav Benyamin]

"North to Alaska"

 

[java]

"North to Alaska"

Ding! Ding! Winner!

Loved all them historical ballads! Batlle of New Orleans, Sink the Bismark, Commanche, etc....

 

[Steve Hayden]

Hugh posted "My other favorite song from his "Gunfighter Ballads" album is "Big Iron", even though I know that the walk-down shoot-out that it describes, as in the TV show"Gunsmoke", was more Hollywood than real history."

In El Paso there is (or was, in the 60s), a plaque on a building downtown noting that is was the site of the Acme Saloon where El Paso Deputy Sheriff John Selman shot John Wesley Hardin. It said the coroner's inquest decided that "if Selman shot him in the eye it was good shootin' and if he shot him in the back of the head, it was good judgement."

 

[Don Luis]

A real song from south of the border, this one was very popular when I was in Highschool (late 60´s):

"Un viejo Amor" by Alfonso Esparza Oteo

Por unos ojazos negros
igual que penas de amores,
hace tiempo tuve anhelos,
alegrías y sinsabores.
Y al dejarlos algún día
me decían así llorando:
No te olvides vida mía
de lo que te estoy cantando.

Que un viejo amor
ni se olvida ni se deja,
que un viejo amor
de nuestra alma sí se aleja
pero nunca dice adiós,
que un viejo amor.

Ha pasado mucho tiempo
y otra vez vi aquellos ojos
me miraron con despego
friamente y sin enojos.
Y al notar ese desprecio
de ojos que a mi me lloraron,
pregunté si con el tiempo
sus recuerdos olvidaron.

Que un viejo amor
ni se olvida ni se deja,
que un viejo amor
de nuestra alma sí se aleja
pero nunca dice adiós,
que un viejo amor.

Edited, sorry guys I just have to add another famous corrido, in this one it´s the girl who gets shot:

CORRIDO DE ROSITA ALVIREZ

Año de mil novecientos, presente lo tengo yo,
en un barrio de Saltillo, Rosita Alvírez murió.

Su mamá se lo decía: -Rosa, esta noche no sales.
-Mamá no tengo la culpa que a mí me gusten los bailes.
Hipólito fue a la fiesta y a Rosa se dirigió,
como era la más bonita, Rosita lo desairó.
-Rosita no me desaires, la gente lo va a notar.
-Pues que digan lo que quieran, contigo no he de bailar.

Echo mano a la cintura y una pistola sacó
y a la pobre de Rosita nomás tres tiros le dió.

La noche que la mataron, Rosita estaba de suerte:
de tres tiros que le dieron, nomas uno era de muerte.

Rosita ya está en el cielo, dándole cuenta al Creador,
Hipólito en el juzgado, dando su declaración.

 

[java]

Hugh posted "My other favorite song from his "Gunfighter Ballads" album is "Big Iron", even though I know that the walk-down shoot-out that it describes, as in the TV show"Gunsmoke", was more Hollywood than real history."

In El Paso there is (or was, in the 60s), a plaque on a building downtown noting that is was the site of the Acme Saloon where El Paso Deputy Sheriff John Selman shot John Wesley Hardin. It said the coroner's inquest decided that "if Selman shot him in the eye it was good shootin' and if he shot him in the back of the head, it was good judgement."

Nice aside on El Paso del Norte, Shego.

Your and Hugh's first comments also reminded me of Marty's song The Hangin' Tree from his Gunfighter Songs and Ballads not so-compact disc:

I came to town to search for gold
And I brought with me a memory
And I seem to hear the night wind cry,
"Go hang your dreams on the hangin' tree
Your dreams of love that could never be
Hang your faded dreams on the hangin' tree!"

I searched tor gold and I found my gold
And I found a girl who loved just me
And I wished that I could love her too
But I'd left my heart on the hangin' tree
I'd left my heart with a memory
And a faded dream on the hangin' tree.

Now there were men who craved my gold
And meant to take my gold from me
When a man is gone he needs no gold
So they carried me to the hangin' tree
To join my dreams and a memory
Yes they carried me to the hangin' tree.

To really live you must almost die
And it happened just that way with me
They took the gold and set me free
And I walked away from the hangin' tree
I walked away from the hangin' tree
And my own true love, she walked with me!

That's when I knew that the hangin' tree
Was a tree of life, new life for me
A tree of hope, new hope for me
A tree of love, new love tor me
The hangin' tree, the hangin' tree, the hangin' tree!

The ballad was also featured as the theme from the same movie starring Gary Cooper, Karl Malden, George C. Scott, and Maria Schell. Also made me think of another old love-angst balladeer Gene Pitney (Town without Pity, It Hurts to be in Love, Mecca, etc) and the movie The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence that featured his song as it's theme. Hollywood often takes a lot liberties (excuse the pun) with history but sometimes you just want to be entertained. Thanks for the Memories......

j

 

[FullerH]

Um, sorry to digress but G2 how did Jim Stafford pop up here??? Been into the Wildwood Weed again there? Favorite Jim was 15 little red noses and a horse that sweats Loved everything Marty Robbin's did. A White Sport Coat and a Pink Crustacean....wait a minute that was Buffett, a guy who tried starting in country and had to make his own musical niche. Meanwhile back at the thread a dazed and confused (no wait that's Zepellin (Led and not Dred)) Java cries plaintively, "Well what about Johnny Horton???? I thought he was pretty good. And one of his songs was for a John Wayne movie....and.. and don't leave out Charlie Pride either!

"A White Sport Coat and a Pink Carnation" is a Marty Robbins song, one that broke through to the regular pop music hit parade somewhare around 1953 or 1954. My older brother, then in high school, actually did wear that to a prom.

Johnny Horton's "Battle of New Orleans" is putting words to an old fiddle hoe-down tune. It was very popular about the time that the Charlton Heston-Yul Brynner film on the battle of New Orleans, "The Buccaneer" came out. My brother was in Europe at the time and the song was poular in the United Kingdom, except that the words had been changed so that it went: "We fired our guns but the Yankees kept a-comin; They weren't high as many as they was a while ago." The song "Sink the Bismarck" was the theme to the movie of the same name, as was "North to Alaska". That latter is always seen as a John Wayne movie, and it is, but the true star was the late Ernie Kovacs as the villain. He was just funny as all Hell in that role as he was in all of this film roles. Some of the older of you may remember his death in a Corvair accident and his widow sued General Motors. She was Edie Adams, the "Light up and see me some time" Muriel Cigar Lady on TV. She later married one of the guys who played one of the emergency room doctors on the 1970s TV show, "Emergency", in which she played Nurse Dixie. She was a singer, originally, and she did a version of "Won't You Come Home, Bill Bailey" that would raise the dead and bring them home.

 

[FullerH]

Don Luis, out of respect for you and yours, as well as for my adopted daughter, I'll not even try to include the song, "Spanish Is A Loving Tongue".

There wouldn't be English translations of your two songs available, would there?

 

[Don Luis]

"Spanish Is A Loving Tongue".

This is not Whine and Cheese but that sounds like French to me.

There wouldn't be English translations of your two songs available, would there?

I´ll give it a try, of course I cannot make it sound as good as the original:

An Old Love

For a pair of big black eyes
just like the grieves of love
some time ago I had desires
happiness and sadness.
And when I left them one day
they told me this, crying:
Do not forget my love
of what I am singing to you.

That an old love
is never forgotten or gone
that an old love
does get far from our soul
but never says goodbye.

A long time has passed
and again I saw those eyes
they looked at me with avoidance
coldly and without anger.
When I noticed such contempt
from eyes that had cried for me.
I asked if with time
their memories had faded.

That an old love
is never forgotten or gone
that an old love
does get far from our soul
but never says good bye.


Rosita Alvirez

The year of 1900 always present in my mind
in an old Saltillo´s barrio Rosita Alvirez has died.

Her mother would tell her: -Rosa you shouldn´t go out tonight.
-Mother it is not my fault that I like so much to dance.
Hipolito just arrived and to Rosa went went to talk.
She knew that she was the prettiest and looked at him with disdain.
-Rosita do not despise me. The people will notice it
-So let them say what they want with you I´m not going to dance.

He took his hand to his waist and he pulled out his gun
and to the poor Rosita he gave only three shots.

On the night that she was killed Rosita was in good luck.
Of all three shots she received only one was good to kill.

Rosita has gone to heaven and gives account to the Lord.
Hipolito is in the courthouse declaring what he has done.

 

[hamachikama]

Fuller H, thanks for that, I wasnt even around when that song was released, but my mom (God rest her soul) loved it, and would sing it to herself as she cleaned the house when I was still learning to talk. I have only heard it once or twice since she passed away almost 25 years ago, ( I was 10 when she passed) , and the couple of times I heard it made me think of her. Thanks for the lyrics, I would love to have a copy of this song, guess I should look online.

 

[FullerH]

Fuller H, thanks for that, I wasnt even around when that song was released, but my mom (God rest her soul) loved it, and would sing it to herself as she cleaned the house when I was still learning to talk. I have only heard it once or twice since she passed away almost 25 years ago, ( I was 10 when she passed) , and the couple of times I heard it made me think of her. Thanks for the lyrics, I would love to have a copy of this song, guess I should look online.

The CD with both of the LP albums on it is available from Barnes & Noble for $11.98. I just ordered it.
http://music.barnesandnoble.com/search/product.asp?userid=a11DOkhAir&EAN=74646599624&ITM=2

 

[Jeff Clark]

I remember around 1972 being in my brothers pad in Westwood when he and his hard rock buddies broke out their guitars and lovingly reproduced the guitar work from El Paso. I always enjoyed the song, but I'd never been as accutely aware of how fine the music was and how great a guitar piece it is. I have appreciated it more ever since.

Musically they aren't as good, but I have a special place in my memories for the themes to the Warner Brothers TV westerns. Maverick, Colt 45, Cheyenne...

 

[tarsier]

Tarsier, are you familiar with Hank Snow's "Squid Jiggin' Ground"? Snow was from Nova Scotia and many of his songs refer to that part of the world. "Squid Jiggin' Ground" is about jigging(or fishing) for squid on the Grand Banks and was recorded to honor the men with whom he had fished when working fishing boats out of Lunenburg, Nova Scotia.

Very interesting story. No, I haven't heard that song. But when I read the words, I can almost hear the tune anyway.

I have a Hank Snow "best of" cassette tape. The great thing about this music is that in the late 1980s, I could find this stuff for $2.00 in the bottom of a music store bargain bin. The liner notes do mention that he left home at age fourteen to work on the fishing boats hauling out squid and scallops and that he narrowly escaped death in a shipwreck.

Last time I checked, there was no CD version. I should check again, as I like almost every song on the album.

I'm Movin' On
Marriage Vow
The Rhumba Boogie
With This Ring, I Thee Wed
Down The Trail of Achin' Hearts
The Golden Rocket
Stolen Moments
Unwanted Sign Upon Your Heart
Wreck Of The Old 97
Silver Bell
I Don't Hurt Anymore
Music Makin' Momma From Memphis
My Mother
Would You Mind
When Jimmie Rodgers Said Goodbye
The Gold Rush Is Over ( ...and the bum's rush is on... )
The Gal Who Invented Kissin'
Let Me Go, Lover
Spanish Fireball
One More Ride

 

[tarsier]

For those who like cowboy tunes, try Skip Gorman. He is a contemporary singer who does traditional music. I have the CD A Greener Prairie. My favorites are "Night Herding Song" and "Old Paint's A Pony".

This is the way that he sings "Old Paint". There must have been a lot of improvisation, because there are many different lyrics to the same tune:

I'm ridin' Old Paint, I'm leadin' Old Fan.
My foot's in the stirrup, my bridle's in my hand.

Chorus:
Good-bye Old Paint, I'm leaving Cheyenne.
Good-bye Old Paint, I'm leaving Cheyenne.

O, the grass is growing all over this land,
Goodbye, little Annie, I'm off for Montan'.

They feeds in the coulees, they waters in the draw,
Their tails are all matted, their backs are all raw.
I'm off to Montan' for to throw the hoolihan.

O, when I goes under, take my saddle from the wall,
Cinch it to my pony and lead him from his stall;
Tie my bones to his back, turn our faces to the west,
We'll ride to the prairie that we love the best.
Old Paint's a good pony, he canters when he can...

 

[Steve Hayden]

My favorite of the old cowboy songs is Strawberry Roan.

I like I Ride an Old Paint next.

 

[Thomason]

Here is an interesting bit of song history for you. As I understand it this song crossed the ocean from England and became the western classic “The Streets of Laredo”. An explanation I heard was the sailor died from syphilis after being treated with mercury which was the only treatment available at the time.


Young Sailor Cut Down in His Prime

One day as I strolled down by the Royal Albion
Cold was the morning and wet was the day
When who did I meet but one of my shipmates
Wrapped up in flannel yet colder than clay

Then beat the drum lowly
And play the fife merrily
Sound the dead march as you carry him on
Take him to the churchyard
And throw the earth over him
For he's a young sailor cut down in his prime

He asked for a candle to light him to bed,
Likewise a flannel to wrap round his head,
For his poor head was aching,
His poor heart was breaking,
And he was a sailor crt down in his prime.
His poor Old father, his good old mother
Oft-times had told him about his past life
When along with those flash girls

His money he squandered,
And along with those flash girls
He took his own life.

And now he is dead and he lay in his coffin,
Six jolly sailors to carry him along,
Six jolly maidens shall carry white roses,
Not for to smell him as you pass him by.

On the top of the street you will see two girls standing,
One to the other they whispered and said:
Here comes the young man whose money we squandered,
Here comes the young sailor cut down in his prime.

On the top of his headstone you'll see these words written,
All you young men take a warning by me
And never go courting with the girls in the city,
Flash girls of the city were the ruin of me.

(edited to read mercury instead of arsenic and add yet another version)

THE UNFORTUNATE RAKE

As I was a-walking down by St. James' Hospital,
I was a-walking down by there one day,
What should I spy but one of my comrades
All wrapped up in flannel though warm was the day.

I asked him what ailed him, I asked him what failed him,
I asked him the cause of all his complaint.
"It's all on account of some handsome young woman,
'Tis she that has caused me to weep and lament.

"And had she but told me before she disordered me,
Had she but told me of it in time,
I might have got pills and salts of white mercury,
But now I'm cut down in the height of my prime.

"Get six young soldiers to carry my coffin,
Six young girls to sing me a song,
And each of them carry a bunch of green laurel
So they don't smell me as they bear me along.

"Don't muffle your drums and play your fifes merrily,
Play a quick march as you carry me along,
And fire your bright muskets all over my coffin,
Saying: There goes an unfortunate lad to his home."