The English and Scottish Popular Ballads Edited by Francis James Child. |
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The English and Scottish Popular Ballads | ||
108
The Farmer's Old Wife
THE FARMER'S CURST WIFE—A
1
There was an old farmer in Sussex did dwell,(Chorus of whistlers
There was an old farmer in Sussex did dwell,
And he had a bad wife, as many knew well.
(Chorus of whistlers)And he had a bad wife, as many knew well.
2
Then Satan came to the old man at the plough:‘One of your family I must have now.
3
‘It is not your eldest son that I crave,But it is your old wife, and she I will have.’
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‘O welcome, good Satan, with all my heart!I hope you and she will never more part.’
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Now Satan has got the old wife on his back,And he lugged her along, like a pedlar's pack.
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He trudged away till they came to his hall-gate;Says he, Here, take in an old Sussex chap's mate.
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O then she did kick the young imps about;Says one to the other, Let's try turn her out.
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She spied thirteen imps all dancing in chains,She up with her pattens and beat out their brains.
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She knocked the old Satan against the wall:‘Let's turn her out, or she'll murder us all.’
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Now he's bundled her up on his back amain,And to her old husband he took her again.
11
‘I have been a tormentor the whole of my life,But I neer was tormented so as with your wife.’
The English and Scottish Popular Ballads | ||