Plains of Waterloo

Written by: [Traditional]
Language: English
Comments: One of the many traditional English ballads about the 1815 Battle of Waterloo. This one is about a woman encountering a beautiful, young maiden lamenting her beloved "Willie Smith" not returning from battle.

First two verses -
As I rode out one fine summer's morning
Down by the gay banks of a clear pearling stream,
There I spied a handsome fair maid making sad lamentations,
Oh, I threw myself in ambush to hear her sad strains.

Through the woods she marched along, caused the valleys to ring-o,
The fine feathered songsters around her they flew,
Saying, “The wars they are all over and peace it is restored again,
But yet my Willie's not returning from the plains of Waterloo.”
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Originals

Traditional