Cat. #0063 (MFH #348) - As sung by Mrs. Allie Long Parker, Eureka Springs, Arkansas on April 14, 1958
VERSE 1
Bright phoebe had risen
And shown o'er th plain
Th flowers were blooming
It was early one spring
I saw a fair couple
On the old England shore
A viewing of the ocean
And th billows that rolled
VERSE 2
One was a lady
So comm'ly and fair
The other was a captain
Persuading his dear
Persuading his true love
To take a convoy
In a nice ship an' a pleasant one
Called, the Lada Leroy
VERSE 3
Sometimes she grew weary
An' hung down her head
Sometimes she took courage
An' unto him said,
I've a mind to go with you
An' take a convoy
In a nice ship an' a pleasant one
Called, th Lada Leroy
VERSE 4
She dressed herself up in
A suit of men's clothes
An' unto her Father
Disguis-ed she goes
She purchased a vessel
An' paid the demand
But little did he think it
Was his own daughters hand
VERSE 5
Then unto her true love
This lady, she goes
Saying, all things are ready
Let's make no delay
They hoisted their topsails
An' their colors let fly
An' away o'er the ocean
Sailed the Lada Leroy
VERSE 6
Her Father to a captain
In a rage of despair
Saying, pursue them, o'er take them
Their lives we'll destroy
Saying, pursue them, o'er take them
Their lives will destroy
For they never can escape us
In the Lada Leroy
VERSE 7
They had not been sailing
More'n a week or ten days
Till there was an east wind
Blew a nice pleasant gale
They saw a large vessel
That filled them with joy
They hailed it an' found it
Was the Lada Leroy
VERSE 8
They ordered them back up
To old England's shore
Else a broadside of grapeshot
Unto them they'd pour
Pretty Polly's true lover
Soon made this reply,
Present us your grapeshot
For it's you we defy
VERSE 9
From broadside to broadside
These two vessels sailed
While cannons on both sides
Like thunder did roll
Pretty Polly's true lover
Soon gained th victory
Here's health to Pretty Polly
An' sweet liberty
VERSE 10
Then on to Boston
That city of fame
Those two vessels sailed on
I'll mention their name
One was the Exile
And the other Leroy
Here's health to Pretty Polly
She's th girl of my joy