When I was a little boy to London I did go,
But now I've turned a roguish blade,
my courage it will show.
My feet was on the table, my head was hanging down,
And I jumped over Kingston Hill
and never touched the ground,
My tooral laddy whack fol laddy tooral looral ling.
Oh, I bought myself a little bull about three inches high;
People all admired me, all for to hear him cry.
People all admired me, he made such an awful sound,
That he made the steeple of St Paul's Church
come a-tumbling to the ground,
My tooral laddy whack fol laddy tooral looral ling.
Oh, I bought myself a flock of sheep
and most of them were wethers;
Sometimes they brought me wool,
sometimes they brought me feathers.
They were as fine a flock, sir,
as anyone could possess,
For every month or six weeks
they brought me six lamb apiece,
With my tooral laddy whack fol laddy tooral looral ling.
Oh, I bought myself a little hen,
and of her I took great care;
I set her on a mussel shell, she hatched me out a hare.
The hare grew to a milk-white steed
about eighteen yard high,
And if anybody tell you a bigger story, I'll tell you it's a lie,
With my tooral laddy whack fol laddy tooral looral ling.
And I bought myself a little box about three acres square;
Stowed it in my breeches' pocket, guineas they were there.
People all admired me, thanked me for what I'd done,
And they gave me a portion of silver
and gold about ten thousand ton,
My tooral laddy whack fol laddy tooral looral ling.