The roving batchelor/The Roving Bachelor

THE

ROVING BATCHELOR.

I am a roving batchelor,
and has been all my life,
And now I do intend for
to go and seek a wife.
Such a wife as I want,
is not for to be found,
And such a wife as I want,
is not above the ground.

It’s if I marry an old one,
I’m sure that she will fade,
And if I marry a young one,
she’ll kill me with her pride;
It’s if I marry a tall one,
she’ll crack me on the crown,
And if I marry a little one,
they pull the young men down.

It’s if I marry a pretty one,
a cuckold I will be,
And if I marry an ugly one,
the boys will laugh at me.

One night as I lay on my bed,
strange things there came to pass,
Who did I see at my bed-side,
but a handsome pretty lass.

The first question I asked her;
if that she was a maid,
The answer that she gave to me,
I was once what you said.
The next question that I asked her,
if she was one just now,
The answer that she gave to me,
I am sure I’m one for you.

The next question that I asked her,
if that she would take a man,
The answer that she made to me,
it’s only when I can.
The next question that I asked her,
if along with me she would go,
The answer that she gave to me,
what farther you would know:

Green it is a pretty colour,
before it gets a dip,
And he that gets another man’s wife,
is sure to get the nip.
Green it is, &c.