American Old Time Song Lyrics: 52 The Mermaid And The Man

Theater, Music-Hall, Nostalgic, Irish & Historic Old Songs, Volume 52

THE MERMAID AND THE MAN.
Copyright, 1896, by Mayhew A Palmer.
Written by Mayhew & Palmer.
Arranged by Julius F. Peterson.

A mermaid eat on the wave-washed shore.
And longed for a lover bold.
And sighed to herself the while she thought,
Must true love forever grow cold.
A sailor hid strolling along the sand,
Does pause at the wondrous sight,
And straight to his heart there speeds a dart,
Sent by love, 'tis a sorry plight-for-

Chorus.
Cupid stands watching the trouble he's caused
For the mermaid and the man;
Be chuckles with glee at the sight strange to see-
A mermaid in love with a man.
The lad's face turns pale, the maid wags her tail
And sadly looks down at the sand;
As sweethearts they tarry, they never can marry,
The mermaid and the man.

She was so fair, with her wave-kiss'd hair,
That he knelt down by her side;
You can't marry me, nor I marry thee­'Tis a cruel trick of fate, they both cried.
"I love thee far better than life," said he;
"And I," said the maid, "love thee."
In sorrow he hears the wild waves call
His sweetheart back into the sea-and- Chorus.

'Neath the waters deep, where the sea kings sleep,
The maid weeps in vain for the lad,
While Cupid laughed long at the poor lad's song,
And watches his face grow sad;
And year after year, so 'tis said, I hear,
At ebb and flow of the tide.
The boatman, in fear, will venture near
To the place where true love lived and died-and- Chorus.