On the fourteenth of May at the dawn of the day

With my gun on my shoulder to the woods I did stray

In search of some game if the weather proved fair

To see could I get a shot at the bonny black hare



Oh, I met a young girl there with her face as a rose

And her skin was as fair as the lily that blows

I says "My fair maiden, why mumble you so?

Can you tell me where the bonny black hare do go?"



Oh, the answer she gave me, her answer was "No

But it's under me apron they say it do go

And if you'll not deceive me I vow and declare

We'll both go together to hunt the bonny black hare"



Well, I laid this girl down with her face to the sky

And I took out my ramrod and my bullets likewise

I says "Lock your legs round me and dig in with your heels

For the closer we get, oh, the better it feels"



The birds they were singing in the bushes and trees

And the song that they sang was "Oh, she's easy to please"

I felt her heart quiver and I knew what I'd done

Says I "Have you had enough of my old sporting gun?"



Oh, the answer she gave me, her answer was "Nay

It's not often young sportsmen like you come this way

And if your powder is willing and your bullets play fair

Why don't you keep firing at the bonny black hare?"



"Oh, my powder is wasted and my bullets all gone

My ramrod is limp and I cannot fire on

But I'll be back in the morning and if you are still here

We'll both go together to hunt the bonny black hare