I’m going far away o’er the ocean,
Far from the friends that I love best.
And when I shall land safe o’er the ocean
I shall write to the friends I love best.

Chorus:
Meet me love, say won’t you meet me;
For never again shall I roam.
I have some pretty stories to tell you
That are told by the moonlight alone.

If I had six ships on the ocean
All mounted with silver and gold,
I’d give them all to my own dearest darling;
He’s a boy about nineteen years old.

Chorus:
Meet me love say won’t you meet me;
For never again shall I roam.
I have some pretty stories to tell you
That are told by the moonlight alone.

I will gather wild flowers from the daisies
For to tie up my bonny brown hair,
And when my love comes in in the evening
He shall smile for to see me so fair.

Chorus:
Meet me love, say won’t you meet me;
For never again shall I roam.
I have some pretty stories to tell you
That are told by the moonlight alone.

“We can’t trace Martin’s song at all, but it shares a chorus with a 1920s American song, sung by, among others, the Carter Family, usually entitled ‘The Prisoner’s Song’ (Roud 11730).

Carter Family chorus:
Meet me by the moonlight love meet me
Meet me by the moonlight alone
For I have a sad story to tell you
To be told by the moonlight alone

Martin’s chorus:
Meet me love, say won’t you meet me
For never again shall I roam.
I have some pretty stories to tell you
That are told by the moonlight alone.

Coincidence maybe, or just simple confusion!”
Jim Carroll