As I came through Sandgate,
Through Sandgate, through Sandgate,
As I came through Sandgate,
I heard a lassie sing:

“O, weel may the keel row,
The keel row, the keel row,
O weel may the keel row
That my laddie's in.

O who's like my Johnny,
So leish, so blythe, so bonny?
He's foremost among the many
Keel lads of coaly Tyne;

He'll set or row so tightly
Or, in the dance so sprightly,
He'll cut and shuffle slightly,
'Tis true, were he nae mine.

He wears a blue bonnet,
Blue bonnet, blue bonnet,
He wears a blue bonnet
A dimple in his chin.

And weel may the keel row,
The keel row, the keel row,
And weel may the keel row
That my laddie's in.”