A well-known children's song, it was collected in various parts of England in the 19th century. In Ireland the chorus usually refers to Belfast city, and is known colloquilally as The Belle of Belfast City, although it is also adapted to other Irish cities, such as Dublin. English versions refer to the Golden City, or London City.

The song accompanies a children's game. A ring is formed by the children joining hands, one player standing in the centre. When asked, "Please tell me who they be," the girl in the middle gives the name or initials of a boy in the ring (or vice versa). The ring then sings the rest of the words, and the boy who was named goes into the centre.

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Tell me ma, when I go home
The boys won't leave the girls alone
They pulled my hair and stole my comb
But that's all right 'til I go home

She is handsome, she is pretty
She is the belle of Belfast city
She is courting, one, two, three
Please, won't you tell me who is she?

Albert Mooney says he loves her
All the boys are fighting for her
They're up at the door, they're ringing the bell
Saying, "Oh, my true love, are you well?"

Here she comes, as white as snow
Rings on her fingers, bells on her toes
Old Johnny Mary she says she'll die
If she doesn't get the fellow with the roving eye

Tell me ma, when I go home
The boys won't leave the girls alone
They pulled my hair and stole my comb
But that's all right 'til I go home\

She is handsome, she is pretty
She is the belle of Belfast city
She is courting, one, two, three
Please, won't you tell me who is she?

Let the wind and the rain and the hail blow high
Let the snow come tumbling from the sky
She's as nice as apple pie
She'll get her own man, by and by

When she does get a lad of her own
She won't tell her ma when she gets home
Let them all come, all they will
But it's Albert Mooney she loves still

Tell me ma, when I go home
The boys won't leave the girls alone
They pulled my hair and stole my comb
But that's all right 'til I go home

She is handsome, she is pretty
She is the belle of Belfast city
She is courting, one, two, three
Please, won't you tell me who is she?

Tell me ma, when I go home
The boys won't leave the girls alone
They pulled my hair and stole my comb
But that's all right 'til I go home

She is handsome, she is pretty
She is the belle of Belfast city
She is courting, one, two, three
Please, won't you tell me who is she?