I was born and raised in Boston, a place you all know well
Brought up by honest parents, the truth to you I'll tell
Brought up by honest parents and raised most tenderly
Till I became a sporting blade at the age of twenty three

My character was taken and I was sent to jail
My friends and parents tried in vain for to get me out on bail
But the jury found me guilty and the judge, he wrote it down
For the breaking of the Union Bank you are sent to Charlestown

I set my foot on an eastbound train, one cold December day
And every station we passed through, I could hear the people say:
"There goes the Boston burglar, in cold chains he is bound
For the breaking of the Union Bank, he is sent to Charlestown"

Now, who have your liberty, pray keep it if you can
And don't go midnight rambling, breaking laws of God or man
For if you do, you'll surely rue and end up just like me
Serving out twenty years in a penitentiary

I was born and raised in Boston, a place you all know well
Brought up by honest parents, the truth to you I'll tell
Brought up by honest parents and raised most tenderly
Till I became a sporting blade at the age of twenty three