I'm a heart-broken raftsman from Gransville I came
All joys are departed, all virtues the same,
Since the clear skies of Cupid have caused me my grief,
My heart's well nigh broken, I can ne'er find relief

My occupation, l'm a raftsman where the Flat River flows
l've printed my name on both rocks and the shore
In shops, farms and households l'm very well known,
They call me Jack Haggarty, the pride of my town

My story I'll tell you without much delay
A neat little lassie my heart stole away
She was a miller's daughter, close by riverside
And I always intended to make her my bride

Her form, like a lily, was slender and neat
Her hair hung in ringlets to her tiny white feet
Her voice was as sweet as the wind on a leaf
Her skin like the breast of the white smiling sea

I took her to supper, to parties and balls,
Sunday morning went riding from the first time I call
I called her my darling, what a gem for a wife!
When I think of her treachery, I could forfeit my life

I dressed her in the finest of muslins and lace
And the finest of jewels that I could encase
I gave her my wages, the same to keep safe
I begrudged her of nothing I had on the place

I worked on the river and saved a lot of stake
I was steadfast and steady and ne'er played the rake
I was buoyant and smiling on the stiff boiling stream
Her face was before me, it haunted my dream

One day on the river a note I received
She said from her promise herself she released
She'd wedded a lover she long since delayed
And the next time l'd see her she'd not be a maid

Now getting this note sure caused some surprise
When I think of her now it brings tears to my eyes
For it filled me with anger and made me half mad
l'm weary and heartsick and wish myself dead

But it were on her mother I lay on the blame,
She'd wrecked both our lives and blackened my name
She'd thrown off the rigging that God would soon tie
And made me a loner 'til the day that I die

On the banks of Flat River I no more can rest,
So I told them my feeling and pulled for the west;
I will go to Muskegon, a new job to find
I'm leaving Flat River and a false love behind

Come all jolly raftsmen, so brave and so true
Don't love a young girl, you'll be beat if you do;
When you see a sweet lassie with bright golden curls
Then remember Jack Haggarty and his Flat River girl

tune: another Villikens and his Dinah variant
@logging @love
filename[ FLATRVR
playexe FLATRVR
RG
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