Twas the seventeenth of June, in my usual tradition
Of waking in the morning for the hunting and the fishing
I strolled along the road and I'm kicking up the gravel
But my sorrow and my troubles were beginning to unravel

Now I've strolled along this road for a thousand times, or more sir
A beauty such as she was, though, I've never seen before, sir
With golden hair tied up in a bow around her shoulder
At nineteen and a day or two, I couldn't say much more, sir

Chorus:
I would build for her, I would build her a castle
Underneath the Spanish stars, underneath the setting sun

"Will you marry me?", said I, when I knew that I had got her
"I will", she said, "my dearest, if you'll only ask my father
For never would I marry, if I had no permission
Be he soldier lad, a farmer, or a teacher or physician"

So, I found her father soon, near the home, where she had grown, sir
A fat and lazy man, sir, now, that I had ever known, sir
"I'll give my daughter's hand now, if you favor my request
That you go and help my cousin, who is farming in the west"

So, for all of but a year, I was tilling and a-plowing
And writing to my sweetheart, when I found the time allowing
And then, I traveled home, when my chores were all completed
With a door closed in my face now, and that's how that I was greeted

"Aha", said the man, "you will never have my daughter
I have her married to a young apprentice, near Blackwater
Now, he's a married man, you see, and she's a married lady
I'd never let her marry any man, who came from Keady".

Now I stroll along this road, nearly every single day, sir
And I will tell you now, sir, yes, indeed now, if I may sir
That when you find a lady and know your heart is true, sir
You'd better keep an eye on her, or you'll be bound to lose her.