Was brought up in Yorkshire and when I was sixteen
I ran away to London and a soldier I became
Me white cap and feathers, likewise me rattling drum
They learned me to play upon the rub-a-dub-a-dum
With me gentle waist so slender and my fingers long and small
Could play upon the rub-a-dub the best of them all

And many a world of fights me boys
I saw out in the field
And boldly I defied them all
And I refused to yield
In buttoning up me trousers while often I did smile
To think I lay with a thousand men and a maiden all the while
With me white cap and feathers, likewise me rattling drum
They learned me to play upon the rub-a-dub-a-dum
With me gentle waist so slender and my fingers long and small
Could play upon the rub-a-dub the best of them all

They never found my secret out until this very hour
They sent me up to London to be sentry at the Tower
A lady fell in love with me found I was a maid
She sent me to my officer and my secret she betrayed
Well he unbuttoned my red tunic and he found out it was true
‘It's a shame,' he said, ‘to lose a pretty drummer boy like you'
And now I must return and go it all alone
Along with my old comrades no longer can I roam

With me white cap and feathers, likewise me rattling drum
They learned me to play upon the rub-a-dub-a-dum
With me gentle waist so slender and my fingers long and small
Could play upon the rub-a-dub the best of them all
With me fine cap and feathers, likewise me rattling drum
They learned me to play upon the rub-a-dub-a-dum
With me gentle waist so slender and my fingers long and small
Could play upon the rub-a-dub the best of them all