As I cruised out one evening
Upon a night's career
I spied a lofty clipper ship
And to her, I did steer
I heisted out my signals
Which she so quickly knew
And when she saw my bunting fly
She immediately hove too
She had a dark and a-rovin' eye
And her hair hung down in ringlets
She was a nice girl, a proper girl
But one of the rovin' kind
Oh pardon me, she says to me
For being out so late
But if my parents heard of this
All sad would be my fate
My father is in politics
A good and righteous man
My mother is an acrobat
I do the best I can
She had a dark and a-rovin' eye
And her hair hung down in ringlets
She was a nice girl, a proper girl
But one of the rovin' kind
I took her for some fish and chips
And treated her so fine
And hardly did I realize
She was the rovin' kind
I kissed her lips, I missed her lips
And found to my surprise
She was nothin' but a pirate ship
Rigged up in a disguise
She had a dark and a-rovin' eye
And her hair hung down in ringlets
She was a nice girl, a proper girl
But one of the rovin' kind
So, come all ye good sailor men
Who sails the wintry sea
Who sail the wintry sea
A warnin' take from me
Beware of lofty clipper ships
They'll be the ruin of you
For 'twas there she made me walk the plank
And pushed me under, too
She had a dark and a-rovin' eye
And her hair hung down in ringlets
She was a nice girl, a proper girl
But one of the rovin' kind
