X:1
T:George Collins
B:Purslow, F, 1968,The Wanton Seed, EFDS Publications, London
S:Henry Blake, Bartley, Hant
Z:Gardiner H 1193
F:http://www.folkinfo.org/songs
M:6/8     %Meter
L:1/8     %
K:C
G |FDB, (B,D)E |(GF)D C2
w:George Col-ins walked out_ one May_ morn-ing,
 D |(EF)G (cd)c | G3-G2
w:When may_ was all_ in bloom*
E |GGG c2 c |_BAG (DE)
w: And there he be-held a pret-ty fair maid_
 F |GAG GFE | C3-C2  |]
w:A-wash-ing her mar-*ble stone.*
W:George Collins walked out one May morning,
W:When may was all in bloom,
W:And there he beheld a pretty fair maid,
W:A-washing her marble stone.
W:
W:She whooped, she holloed, she highered her voice,
W:And held up her lily-white hand,
W:"Come hither to me, George Collins," she said,
W:"And thy life shall not last thee long."
W:
W:George Collins stepped up to the fair water-side,
W:And over the water sprang he,
W:He clasped her round her middle so small,
W:And kissed her red rosy cheeks.
W:
W:George Collins went home to his own father's gate,
W:And so loudly he did ring,
W:(And who should come down but his own father dear,
W:To let George Collins in)
W:
W:"Arise, my dear father, and let me in,
W:Arise, dear mother and make my bed,
W:Arise, my dear sister and get me a napkin -
W:A napkin to bind round my head.
W:
W:And if I should chance to die this night,
W:As I suppose I shall,
W:Bury me under that marble stone,
W:That's against fair Helen's wall."
W:
W:Fair Helen sits in her room so fine,
W:A-working her silken skein,
W:Then she saw the finest corpse a-coming,
W:That ever the sun shone on.
W:
W:She said unto her Irish maid,
W:"Whose corpse is this so fine?"
W:"It is George Collins' corpse a-coming,
W:That once was a true-lover of thine."
W:
W:"You go upstairs and fetch me the sheet,
W:That's wove with a silver twine,
W:And hang it over George Collins' corpse,
W:To-morrow it shall hang over mine."
W:
W:"Come, put him down, my six pretty lads,
W:And open his coffin so fine,
W:That I might kiss his lily-white lips,
W:For ten thousand times he has kissed mine."
W:
W:The news was carried to fair London town,
W:And wrote all on fair London's gate,
W:That six pretty maids died all of one night,
W:And all for George Collins' sake.
W: