The Young Woman's Wish/The Faint-Hearted Batchelor

by Anonymous

 

The Faint-hearted BATCHELOR.

Long time have I courted a bonny fair maid,
But now for to marry her I am afraid,
If she proves with child, my sorrow begins,
Then I must provide both blankets and pins.
  Blankets and pins, blankets and pins,
  Then I must provide both blankets and pins.

 When my wife lies in, the charges are great,
There is bread and cheese for the gossips to eat,
There's gruel and sugar for the lying in wife,
Those things are sufficient to plague a man's life.
  Blankets and pins, &c.

 There is sugar and butter to get for the child,
All this is sufficient to put a man wild,
A spoon and a sauce-pan, the milk for to boil,
A cradle also for to quiet the child.
  Blankets and pins, &c.

 The midwife wants money, and nurse-keeper too,
And trade is so bad there is nothing to do,
There is nothing to do, which makes me run wild,
All this to provide for another man's child.
  Blankets and pins, &c.

 There's slabering bubs and baries also,
And shoes and stockings when the child can go,
When the child can speak, he must go to a school.
I pray who would marry to be such a fool?
  Blankets and pins, &c.