I've always been a rambler
my fortune's been quite hard
I've always loved the women
drink whiskey and play cards
My parents treated me kindly
as they had no boy but me
My mind was bent on rambling
at home I couldn't agree

There was a wealthy farmer
who lived in the country by
He had a beautiful daughter
to whom I cast an eye
She was so tall and handsome
so pretty and so fair
There never was a girl in this wide world
to her I could compare

I asked if it made any difference
if I crossed o'er the plain
She said I'd made no difference
if you return again
She said that she'd prove true to me
until I proved unkind
So we shook hands and parted
and I left that girl behind

I traveled out one morning
to the salt works I were bound
And when I reached the salt works
I viewed the city all around
Where the work and money were plentiful
and the girls treated me kind
But the only object of my heart
was the one I left behind

I rambled out one evening
down on the public square
The mail had just arriven
I met the carrier there
He handed me a letter
which caused me to understand
That the girl I left in Tennessee
had married another man

I read a few lines further
and I found out it was true
My heart was filled with tumult
I didn't know what to do
My heart was filled with trouble
and trouble was on my mind
I'm goin' to drink and gamble
for the girl I left behind