No 36 a Sweet Pretty Maiden Sat Under a Tree
H.F.S.
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1
A sweet pretty maiden sat under a tree,
She sighed and said, ‘Oh! that I married might be,
My daddy is so crabbed and my mammy is so cross,
That a husband for certain could never be worse.’
2
Young Johnny he heard what the damsel did say.
He came to her side, and said smiling, ‘Today
I have a little cottage and I have a little horse
I have a pleasant temper that will not grow worse.
3
‘If you will be mine, and to that will agree,
We’ll travel together in sweet amity.
There never will be wrangle, there never can be strife,
Between a good husband and his pretty wife.’
4
The maiden replied, ‘I am not very sure,
That fond matrimony my trouble will cure,
From daddy and from mammy I quickly run away
And go into service for a year and a day.
5
‘The ring that you hold is a link in a chain,
Will fetter my freedom, my tongue will restrain
I cannot run away, and I never shall be free,
So take your kind offer to others than me.’