Another soldier. The arrival of the Duke of York to grant a reprieve possibly sets this in the Napoleonic Wars, though other versions have Prince Albert as the generous deus ex machina.
lyrics
The New Deserter
I am a young farmer and Johnny is my name,
In Oxfordshire lived when I followed my team;
My friends turned against me and told me to go
To seek a new master, which proved my woe.
It’s alas! and alas! and what sad cruelty,
It’s oh, the king’s duty lies heavy on me.
When I came to the statutes in grief and despair,
Then who should I meet but the sergeant was there.
He asked me and invited me, and did tell me so,
Unto the king’s barracks I was forced for to go.
The first time I deserted I thought myself free;
Informed on by my comrades a deserter to be,
I was soon followed after and brought back with speed,
I was handcuffed and shackled, heavy-ironed indeed.
A court-martial, court-martial, court-martial was then,
And the sentence they gave me was a hundred and ten;
From thence to the guard-house on a straw bed did lie,
From thence to the halberds the very next day.
Then in steps our general with his cane in his hand,
Saying, ‘Show me that young man that’s at my command;
You may loose him from the halberds, you may set him free,
For he’ll be a deserter till the day that he dies.’
The next time I deserted I thought myself free;
Informed on by my sweetheart a deserter to be,
I was soon followed after and brought back with speed,
I was hand-cuffed and shackled, heavy-ironed indeed.
A court-martial, court-martial, court-martial then sat,
And the sentence they gave me it was to be shot.
Up drives then our Duke of York in his coach and six,
Saying, ‘Show me that young man to the halberds is fixed.’
Put his hand in his pocket and pulled out ten pounds,
Saying, ‘Take this, my young man, and go your ways home’,
Saying, ‘Take this, my young man, goodbye unto thee,
No more the king’s duty lies heavy on thee.’
It’s alas! and alas! and what sad cruelty,
No more, the king’s duty lies heavy on me.
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