House Carpenter

traditional

Well met, well met, my own true love

Well met, well met, cried he

I've just returned from the salt, salt sea

And it's all for the sake of thee

I could have married a King's daughter there

So freely she was with me

But I have forsaken a crown of gold

It's all for the sake of thee

If you could have married a King's daughter there

I'm sure you are to blame

For I’ve recently wedded a house carpenter

And I think he's a fine young man

Will you forsake your house carpenter

And come and go along with me

I'll take you to where the grass grows green

On the banks of sweet Italy

Well she picked up her dear little babe

Kisses she gave him three

Saying "stay at home my dearest babe

And keep your daddy company."

They had not been sailin' but about two days

I'm sure it was not three

When this fair lady began to weep

And she wept most bitterly.

“Why are you weepin' my dearest dear?

Are you weepin' for my golden store?"

Or are you weeping for your house carpenter

Whose face you’ll never see anymore?

"I am not weepin' for my house carpenter

Nor for any store.

But I am weepin' for my own dear babe

Whose face I’ll never see anymore.”

What hills, what hillls are those, my dear

What hills so fair and high

Those are the hills of heaven, my dear

But not for you or I.

What hills, what hills are those, my love

What hills so dark and low.

Those are the hills of hell my dear

Where you and I must go.

They had not been sailin' but about three days

I'm sure that it was not four

When the ship sprang a leak in the bottom of the deck

And she sank for to ride no more.