The Boston Burglar

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Canadian folksinger Jesse Ferguson performs traditional ballad "The Boston Burglar" (Roud 261), a variant of "The Whitby Lad"/"Botany Bay." Chords and lyrics below.

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The Boston Burglar
(traditional (Roud 261), arrang. J. Ferguson, 2020)

V1.
G C G D G G7
I was born in Boston City, boys, a place you all know well,
C D G Em G C D
brought up by honest parents—the truth to you I'll tell.
G C G D G G7
Brought up by honest parents and raised most tenderly,
C D G Em D D7 G
'til I became a sporting lad at the age of twenty-three.

V2.
My character was broken, and I was sent to jail.
My friends and parents tried their best to get me out on bail.
The jury found me guilty; the judge he wrote it down,
“For the breaking of the Union Bank you're sent to Charlestown.”

V3.
I can see my aged father; he's standing at the bar.
Likewise my aged mother; she's tearing of her hair.
A-tearing of her old grey locks, and the tears come mingling down.
Saying, “Johnny my son, what have you done to be sent to Charlestown?”

V4.
I set my foot on an eastbound train one cold December day,
and every station I passed by, I heard the people say,
“There goes the Boston Burglar; in iron chains he's bound.
For breaking of the Union Bank, he's sent to Charlestown.”

V5.
There's a girl in Boston City, boys, a girl I love right well.
If e'er I get my liberty, it's with her I will dwell.
If e'er I get my liberty, bad comp'ny I will shun.
Likewise the roaming of the streets and the drinking of the rum.

V6.
You lads who have your liberty should keep it while you can.
Don't roam the streets by night, me boys, or break the laws of man.
For if you do you're sure to rue and you'll end up just like me:
a-servin' up your twenty-one years in a penitentiary.