Quoth John to Joan, wilt thou have me?
I prythee now, wilt? and I’ze marry with thee,
My cow, my calf, my house, my rents,
And all my lands and tenements:
Oh, say, my Joan, will not that do?
I cannot come every day to woo.
I’ve corn and hay in the barn hard by,
And three fat hogs pent up in the sty:
I have a mare, and she is coal black,
I ride on her tail to save my back.
Then say, &c.
I have a cheese upon the shelf,
And I cannot eat it all myself;
I’ve three good marks that lie in a rag,
In the nook of the chimney, instead of a bag.
Then say, &c.
To marry I would have thy consent,
But faith I never could compliment;
I can say nought but ‘hoy, gee ho,’
Words that belong to the cart and the plow.
Then say, &c.
HARRY’S COURTSHIP.
[This old ditty, in its incidents, bears a resemblance to Dumble-dum-deary, see ante, p. 149. It used to be a popular song in the Yorkshire dales. We have been obliged to supply an hiatus in the second verse, and to make an alteration in the last, where we have converted the ‘red-nosed parson’ of the original into a squire.]
Harry courted modest Mary,
Mary was always brisk and airy;
Harry was country neat as could be,
But his words were rough, and his duds were muddy.
Harry when he first bespoke her,
[Kept a dandling the kitchen poker;]
Mary spoke her words like Venus,
But said, ‘There’s something I fear between us.
‘Have you got cups of China mettle,
Canister, cream-jug, tongs, or kettle?’
‘Odzooks, I’ve bowls, and siles, and dishes,
Enow to supply any prudent wishes.
‘I’ve got none o’ your cups of Chaney,
Canister, cream-jug, I’ve not any;
I’ve a three-footed pot and a good brass kettle,
Pray what do you want with your Chaney mettle?