[INTRO]
Come all ye jolly mariners
That like to tack a drum
And I'll tell ye o' a robber
That o'er the seas did come

[VERSE 1]
He wrote a letter to his king on eleventh o' July
To see if he would launch with him and all his company

"No, no" said the king, "such things, they cannot be
"For they tell me you're a robber, a robber on the sea"

The king has built a bonny ship and sent her to the sea
With four and twenty mariners to guard his bonny ship wee

[INSTRUMENTAL]

[VERSE 2]
They sailed up and they sailed down
So stately, blithe and free
'Til they spied the king's Irene dear like a leviathan on the sea

Why lie here, ye tinker, ye silly, cowardly thief
Why lie ye here, ye tinker and hold the poor king in grief?
[INSTRUMENTAL]

[VERSE 3]
They fought frae one in the mornin'
'Til it was late at night
Until the king's Irene dear was forced to take a flight

"Get him, get him" he tinkers, "and tell your king for me
"Though he reign king upon good dry land, I will reign king upon the sea"

[INSTRUMENTAL]