My Boatman by Sue Lee Recorded by Keepers Lock Oh I fell in love in love with a boatman lad It was eighteen ninety one! He worked upon his father's boats He was their only son From dawn to dusk he laboured hard To load their boats with coal And I watched him from my father's yard On the Grand Junction Canal He was so tall and handsome then With eyes of deepest blue His hair was black and curly And my love for him grew I watched him as the weeks went by Working with a will Loading boats at my father's wharf The memory's with me still I little thought he'd notice me I was but eighteen years Each week I'd wait for his boats to come When they left I'd shed the tears Oh my hopeless situation! I dared not even pray That he might ever look at me Until that fateful day It was on the twenty third of March And the wind was blowing shrill My boatman came in search of help For his father, Oh so ill! A rope had snapped and the load had trapped His father, so he cried And by six o'clock that very night John Sutton he had died Well I learned that day, his name was Jack And as the weeks went by When his boat and butty he'd tie up I would 'happen' to pass by We came to know each other well I can see him to this day With his bold brave smile and gentle heart Saying he'd wed me next May Day "He's beneath your station" Father cried, "You're not for the likes of he!" We knew then we would have no peace From my home I'd have to flee Jack said I was so beautiful More fitting for a King! And when next he came in search of me Jack brought a golden ring And though we were never wed in church Jack always called me 'Wife' Though times were hard, but together We've had a happy life. I've borne him sons and daughters ten And we've lived life to the full Though our days are spent in a cottage now I love my boatman still! Recorded on :