Boston Burglar

I was born and raised in Boston, a place you all know well
Brought up by honest parents, the truth to you, I’ll tell
Brought up by honest parents and rared most tenderly
'Til I became a sporting lad at the age of twenty-three
My character was taken and I was sent to jail
My friends, they came, and tried in vain to get me out on bail
The jury found me guilty, the clerk he wrote it down
The judge he passed the sentence, I was bound for Charlestown
I set my foot on an eastbound train, one cold December day
In every station we passed through, I could hear the people say
«There goes the Boston burglar, in strong chains he is bound»
«For one crime or another, he is bound for Charlestown»
All you that have your freedom, take warning if you can
And don’t go round the streets at night, breaking laws of God or man
And if you do you’ll surely rue and find yourself like me
A-serving out your twenty-one, at the age of twenty-three