At Twenty-One At twenty-one I first begun To court my neighbor's child We both being young and full of fun Bright Phoebus on us smiled We both being young and full of fun Right well we did agree 'Twas well I knew she would prove true And loyal unto me. At twenty-two no man could view All the beauty that this maid possessed Her curling hair in ringlets fair Hung down her snow white breast The picture of her two blue eyes My pencil cannot tell Her effigy no hand could draw Nor paint her parallel At twenty-four I did adore This beautiful young fair maid When she gave her hand To a rich young man Alas but I was poor They sailed away across the sea And left me here to mourn That bright May day she sailed away Never more for to return recorded by Andy Irvine/Dick Gaughan on "Parallel Lines" (1981) Andy notes: "I heard this song from the singing of Robert Cinnamond who lived a ripe old age at the banks of Lough Neagh. He had a vast repertoire, much of which was collected for the BBC by Sean O'Boyle in 1955, including this heart-breaker." MJ
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