The Bonny Bunch of Roses Fairport Convention

By the margin of the ocean, one summer day in the month of June
The feather'd warbling songsters their voices sweetly sang in tune
It was there I met a female all overcome with grief and woe
Conversing with Napoleon on the Bonny Bunch of Roses, O

Then up spoke young Napoleon and he took her by the hand
Saying "Mother dear, be patient, and I soon will take command;
And I'll raise a mighty army, and through tremendous dangers go
And I'll conquer all the universe, and I'll have the Bonny Bunch of Roses, O."

"When first you saw great Bonaparte, you fell upon your bended knee
And asked your father's life of him he granted it most manfully
It was then he took an army, and o'er the frozen Alps did go
Saying, "I'll conquer Moscow and come back for the Bonnie Bunch of Roses, O."

Oh he took a mighty army, princes and dukes were in his train
He was so well provided for, enough to sweep the world for gain;
But when he came to Moscow, all overpowered by sleet and snow
And Moscow was a-blazing, he lost the Bonnie Bunch of Roses, O

Now son, don't speak so venturesome, for England has the heart of oak
And England, Ireland, Scotland, their unity will ne'er be broke;
So remember your father, in Saint Helena he lies low
And you will follow after, beware of the Bonnie Bunch of Roses, O

Adieu, adieu forever, now I bow my youthful head
Had I lived I might have been clever, but now I lie on my dying bed
And as the waters do flow and the weeping willows over me grow
The name of brave Napoleon will enshrine the Bonnie Bunch of Roses, O