Come gather round you sailor boys and listen to my song
And when you've heard it through you'll pity me,
For I was a goddam fool in the port of Liverpool
The first time that I came home from sea.
I was paid off at the Hove for a trip from Sydney Cove
And two pound ten a month was all me pay
But I started drinking gin and was neatly taken in
By a little girl they all called Maggie May
Oh, Maggie, Maggie May, they have taken her away
And she'll never walk down Lime Street any more
For the judge he guilty found 'er
For robbing a homeward bounder
The first time that I came home from sea
The first time I saw Maggie she took me breath away
She was cruising up and down Old Canning Place
She had a figure fine as a warship of the line
And me being a sailor, I gave chase
In the morning I awoke, stiff and sore and stoney broke
No trousers, coat or weskit could I find
The landlady said Sir, I can tell you where they are
They'll be down at the pawnshop, Number Nine
Oh, Maggie, Maggie May...
To the bobby on the beat at the corner of the street
To him I went, to him I told me tale
And he asked, as if in doubt Does your mother know you're out?
But agreed the lady ought to be in jail
To the pawnshop I applied but no trousers could I find
So the bobbies came and took the girl away
The jury guilty found her for robbing a homeward bounder
And paid her passage out to Botany Bay
Oh, Maggie, Maggie May, they have taken her away
And she'll never walk down Lime Street any more
For the judge he guilty found 'er
For robbing a homeward bounder
The first time that I came home from sea
Alternative choruses:
Oh Maggie, Maggie May they have taken you away
To slave upon that cold Van Diemen shore
Oh you robbed so many sailors and dosed so many whalers
You'll never cruise down Lime Street any more
Oh, Maggie, Maggie May, they have taken you away
And you'll never walk down Lime Street anymore
You may search from here to China you'll not find a girl that's finer
That is finer than my darlin' Maggie May