OLD DORSET SONGS. 35 



I'M A MAN THAT'S DONE WRONG TO 

 MY PARENTS. 



I'm a man that's in trouble and sorrow, 



That once was light-hearted and gay ; 

 Not a coin in this world can I borrow, 



Since my own I have squandered away. 

 I once wronged my father and mother, 



Till they turned me out from their door, 

 To beg, starve, or die, in the gutter to lie, 



And ne'er enter their dwelling no more. 



Chorus. 



I'm a man that's done wrong to my parents, 



And daily I wander about, 

 To earn a small mite for my lodging at night. 



God help me, for now I'm cast out ! 



Then my father will say when he meets me, 



" You beggar, you still are at large, 

 And mind, sir, that you don't come near me, 



Or by heaven I will give you in charge." 

 My mother, poor thing's broken-hearted ; 



To meet me she ofttimes will try, 

 For to give me a crown with her head hanging down 



And a tear rolling out of her eye. 



Chorus. 



I'd a sister that married a squire, 



She'll ne'er look nor speak unto me, 

 Because in this world she's much higher, 



And rides in her carriage so free. 

 Then the girl that I once loved so dearly 



Is dying broken-hearted, they say, 

 And there on her bed she is lying near dead, 



And now for her outcast doth pray. 



Chorus. 



