"O father dear, I am your own,
And at your command I needs must be,
But bind my body to whom you please,
My heart, Tom Pots, shall go with thee."
Alas! the lady her fondness must leave,45
And all her foolish wooing lay aside;
The time is come her friends have appointed,
That she must be Lord Phenix bride.
With that the lady began to weep;
She knew not well then what to say,50
How she might Lord Phenix deny,
And escape from marriage quite away.
She call'd unto her little foot-page,
Saying, "I can trust none but thee;
Go carry Tom Pots this letter fair,55
And bid him on Guildford-green meet me:
"For I must marry against my mind,
Or in faith well proved it shall be;
And tell to him I am loving and kind,
And wishes him this wedding to see.60
"But see that thou note his countenance well,
And his colour, and shew it to me;
And go thy way and [hie] thee again,
And forty shillings I will give thee.
"For if he smile now with his lips,65
His stomach will give him to laugh at the heart;
Then may I seek another true love,
For of Tom Pots small is my part.
"But if he blush now in his face,
Then in his heart he will sorry be;70
Then to his vow he hath some grace,
And false to him I'le never be."
Away this lacky-boy he ran,
And a full speed forsooth went he,
Till he came to Strawberry-castle,75
And there Tom Pots came he to see.