CXXXIV.
Little Tom Dogget,
What dost thou mean,
To kill thy poor Colly
Now she's so lean?
Sing, oh poor Colly,
Colly, my cow,
For Colly will give me
No more milk now.
I had better have kept her,
'Till fatter she had been,
For now, I confess,
She's a little too lean.
Sing, oh poor Colly, &c.
First in comes the tanner
With his sword by his side,
And he bids me five shillings
For my poor cow's hide.
Sing, oh poor Colly, &c.
Then in comes the tallow-chandler,
Whose brains were but shallow,
And he bids me two-and-sixpence
For my cow's tallow.
Sing, oh poor Colly, &c.
Then in comes the huntsman
So early in the morn,
He bids me a penny
For my cow's horn.
Sing, oh poor Colly, &c.
Then in comes the tripe-woman,
So fine and so neat,
She bids me three half-pence
For my cow's feet.
Sing, oh poor Colly, &c.
Then in comes the butcher,
That nimble-tongu'd youth,
Who said she was carrion,
But he spoke not the truth.
Sing, oh poor Colly, &c.
The skin of my cowly
Was softer than silk,
And three times a-day
My poor cow would give milk.
Sing, oh poor Colly, &c.
She every year
A fine calf did me bring,
Which fetcht me a pound,
For it came in the spring.
Sing, oh poor Colly, &c.
But now I have kill'd her,
I can't her recall;
I will sell my poor Colly,
Hide, horns, and all.
Sing, oh poor Colly, &c.
The butcher shall have her,
Though he gives but a pound,
And he knows in his heart
That my Colly was sound.
Sing, oh poor Colly, &c.
And when he has bought her
Let him sell all together,
The flesh for to eat,
And the hide for leather.
Sing, oh poor Colly, &c.*
* A different version of the above, commencing, My Billy Aroms, is current in the nurseries of Cornwall. One verse runs as follows:
In comes the horner,
Who roguery scorns,
And gives me three farthings
For poor cowly's horns.
This is better than our reading, and it concludes thus:
There's an end to my cowly,
Now she's dead and gone;
For the loss of my cowly,
I sob and I mourn.