Many a lassie as everyone knows'll
Try to be married before twenty five
So she'll agree to most any proposal
All he mus' be is a man an' alive

I hold a dream an' there's no compromisin'
I know there's one certain laddie for me
One day he'll come walkin' o'er the horizon
But should he not, then an old maid I'll be

Foolish, ye may say
Foolish I will stay
Waitin' for my dearie, an' happy am I
To hold my heart till he comes strollin' by

When he comes, my dearie, one look an' I'll know
That he's the dearie I've been wantin' so
Though I'll live forty lives till the day he arrives
I'll not ever, ever grieve

For my hopes will be high that he'll come strollin' by
For ye see, I believe
That there's a laddie weary and wanderin' free
Who's waitin' for his dearie, me!

What do ye do while ye're waitin' around
For your lad to come your way?

Well, when no one is lookin', ye kneel on the ground
An' ye pray an' pray an' pray

But when lassies sit an' have no men
Oh, how long becomes the night

But I fear the night is longer
When the lad's no' right
Waitin' for my dearie is sweeter to me
Than wooin' any laddie on the lea

Dreamin' of your dearie an' idlin' the day

That's how I am
An' how I'll ever stay
Though I'll live forty lives till the day he arrives
I'll not ever, ever grieve

For my hopes will be high that he'll come strollin' by
For ye see, I believe

That there's a laddie weary an' wanderin' free
Who's waitin' for his dearie, me!