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 raised most tenderly,
Till I became a sporting blade at the age of twenty three.

My character was taken and I was sent to jail,
My friends and parents tried in vain for to get me out on bail,
But the jury found me guilty and the judge, he wrote it down,
For the breaking of the Union Bank, you are sent to Charlestown.

I set my foot on an eastbound train, one cold December day,
And every station we passed through, I could hear the people say,
"There goes the Boston burglar, in cold chains he is bound,
For the breaking of the Union Bank, he is sent to Charlestown."

Now, you who have your liberty, pray keep it if you can,
And don't go midnight rambling, breaking laws of God or man,
For if you do, you'll surely rue and end up just like me,
Serving out twenty years in a penitentiary.

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 raised most tenderly,
Till I became a sporting blade at the age of twenty three.