"You're welcome, you're welcome, my father dear,
You are welcome home to me.
For I have been sick unto my heart
Since you've been so long on the sea."
"Then cast you off your berry brown gown,
You stand straight upon the stone,
That I may know you by your shape,
Whether you be a maiden or no."

And she's cast off her berry brown gown,
She stood straight upon the stone.
Her apron was low and her middle was round,
Her face was pale and wan.
"O, is he a lord or is he a knight,
Or a man of wealth and fame.
Or might he be one of my serving men,
I pray you tell me his name."

"O, he is not a lord nor is he a knight,
Or a man of wealth and fame.
But he is called Willie of Winsbury,
I could bide no longer alone."
And the King he has called on his married men all,
By thirty and by three,
"Go fetch me this Willie of Winsbury,
For hanged he shall be."

But when he was brought before the King,
He was clad all in red silk.
His hair was like the strands of gold,
His skin was as white as milk,
"And it is no wonder," said the King,
"That my daughter's love you did win.
For if I was a woman as I am a man,
My bedfellow you would have been."

"Then will ye marry my daughter dear,
By the truth of your right hand?
O, if you marry my daughter dear,
I will make you the Lord of my land."
"Yes, I will marry your daughter dear,
By the truth of my right hand.
But I'll not have your gold and I'll not have your gear,
And I'll not be the Lord of your land.

For I have houses and I have land,
I have men at my command.
And were it not for your daughter fair,
I would not be your serving man."
And he set her upon a milk white steed,
And himself on a dapple gray.
He has made her the lady of as much land
As she can ride in a long summers day.