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As I roved out for my recreation,
Down by Napoleon's Plains where I carelessly did stray;
'Twas there I beheld a most beautiful damsel,
I stayed there in ambush to hear what she would say.
'Twas those sweet songs which caused the valleys for to ring,
The gay gallant songsters around me they flew,
Saying, "The wars are all over and peace is proclaimed,
But my Willie is not returned from the Plains of Waterloo."
"If this William Smith is the name of your true love,
'Twas long with him I spent many a campaign;
Through Portugee together and then France where we marched,
He was my loyal comrade as we marched through Spain.
"Till at length those French soldiers they did so surround us,
Like brave English heroes we did them subdue;
We fought them for three days, till at last we were defeated,
By brave Napoleon Bonaparte on the Plains of Waterloo.
"On the eighteenth of June we ended our battle,
Caused many a gallant hero that day for to complain;
Where the drums they did beat and the cannons did rattle,
'Twas by a French soldier your true love was slain.
"And as I passed by him I saw he was bleeding,
I scarcely had time for to bid him adieu;
With faltering voice these words I heard him saying,
'You are far away, lovely Sally, from the Plains of Waterloo.'"
When she heard him say those words,
Her eyes they grew dim and her color was changing;
Her red rosy cheeks they soon grew pale and then,
I was sad for to see her in that sad situation;
He boldly advanced and said, "I am the man.
"And here is the gold ring between us was broken,
In the midst of all danger reminds me of you."
'Twas soon she saw the token she flew to his arms,
Saying, "You're welcome home, Willie, from the Plains of Waterloo."
This variant collected by MacEdward Leach and published in Folk Ballads And Songs Of The Lower Labrador Coast by The National Museum of Canada (1965) Crown Copyrights Reserved.
MacEdward Leach collected a similar variant in 1951 from Tom Pennell of Trepassey, NL, which was published as Waterloo II in MacEdward Leach And The Songs Of Atlantic Canada © 2004 Memorial University of Newfoundland Folklore and Language Archive (MUNFLA).
A variant was also collected in 1951 from Michael Matthews of Duntara, NL, by Kenneth Peacock and published as The Plains Of Waterloo (I) in Songs Of The Newfoundland Outports, Volume 3, pp.1014-1015, by the National Museum of Canada (1965) Crown Copyrights Reserved.
