A'body's like to be married but me/The beggar girl
THE ⟨BEGGAR⟩ GIRL.
⟨Over⟩ the mountain and over the moor,
Hungry and barefoot I wander forlorn;
⟨My⟩ father is dead, and my mother is poor,
And she grieves for the days that will never return.
Pity, kind gentlefolks, friends to humanity,
Cold blows the wind, and the night's coming o
Give me some food for my mother in charity;
Give me some food, and then I'll begone.
Call me not lazy-back, beggar, and bold enough
Fain would I learn both to knit and to sew;
I've two little brothers at home, when ⟨they're⟩ old enough,
They will work hard for the gifts you bestow
Pity, kind gentlefolks, &c.
O think, while you revel, so careless and free,
Secure from the wind, and well clothed and ⟨fed⟩
Should fortune so change it how hard would it
To beg at a door for a morsel of bread.
Pity, kind gentlefolks, &c.