I.
Here’s an old widow who lies alone,
Lies alone, lies alone,
Here’s an old widow who lies alone,
She wants a man and can’t get one.
Choose one, choose two, choose the fairest.
The fairest one that I can see
Is [Mary Hamilton], come unto me.
Now she is married and tied to a bag,
She has got a man with a wooden leg.
—Belfast (W. H. Patterson).
II.
There was an old soldier he came from the war,
His age it was sixty and three.
Go you, old soldier, and choose a wife,
Choose a good one or else choose none.
Here’s a poor widow she lives her lone,
She hasn’t a daughter to marry but one.
Come choose to the east, choose to the west,
And choose the very one you love best.
Here’s a couple married in joy,
First a girl and then a boy,
Seven years after, and seven years come,
Pree[1] young couple kiss and have done.
—Belfast (W. H. Patterson).
III.
There was a poor widow left alone,
And all her children dead and gone.
Come, choose you east,
Come, choose you west,
Take the man you love best.
Now they’re married,
I wish them joy,
Every year a girl or a boy,
I hope this couple may kiss each other.