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Broken Hearted I Wandered 
Broken Hearted I Wandered
 1. Broken hearted I wandered, For the loss of my true lover, He's a jolly, jolly horseman, In the battle he was slain.
 He had but one sixpence, And he broke it in two,
 And he gave to me the half o't Before he went away.
 He wrote me a letter In the month of November, And he told me not to worry As he was coming home.
 2. Broken-hearted we parted At the loss of my beloved He was a jolly sailor And in battle he was killed.
 He had a silver sixpence And he broke it in two And he gave me the one half Before he went away.
 He wrote me a letter And sealed it with his hands And he told me not to worry For he was coming home.
 Oh were I an angel And had I wings that I might fly I'd go to yonder valley Where my beloved lies.
 3. Broken-hearted I wander, At the loss of my brother; He's a jolly, jolly fellow, 
 At the battle he was slain; He had a silver sixpence, And he broke it in twae, And he gave me the half o't Before he went away. If I were an angel I would fly to the skies, And far beyond the mountains Where my dear brother lies.
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 (1) Skipping song; MacColl, Streets of Song, no. 24. "Both feet together and turning a half circle at each skip. Learned in Glasgow as a child. The song is also used for a ring game in Scotland." 
Ritchie Singing Street (1964), 29, has a version from Edinburgh, c. 1918, very close to this. Differs: 1.2 At the loss of my beloved: 1.3 soldier 1.4 And to battle he must go. 
2.1 He gave me a silver sixpence [And an addendum:] Sweet home/ Marrow bone/ Treacle scone/ Ice-cream cone/ Uncle John!
 Ritchie op. cit.,95.
 Rymour Club Misc. I (1906-11), 148, from Gorgie Public School, Edinburgh. The music "is evidently an adaptation of `Hallelujah to the Lamb'." 

MS