Cold and raw the North did blow,
Out in the morning early;
All the trees were hid in snow
Covered by winter yearly.
A Gentleman riding o'er the hill
Met with a farmer's daughter;
Her rosy cheeks and her bonny brow
Fair made his mouth to water.
Quickly he saluted me,
Meaning to shew his breeding;
I bowed to him right readily,
His courtesy exceeding.
He ask'd me where I went so soon
And longed to begin a parley.
I told him to the next market town
A-purpose to sell my barley.
"In this purse, sweet girl," says he,
"Twenty pounds lie fairly
Seek no further one to buy
For I'll take all your barley.
Twenty more would bring delight
Your body I'd love so dearly,
If you would lay with me tonight
And go home in the morning early."
If all your gold could buy the globe
This you should not crave sir
Or were my kin as poor as Job
I would not so behave sir, sir.
If I lay with you tonight
We'd get a young child together
And you'd be gone ere the nine months end
And what should I do for a father?"
He told me he had married been
Fourteen years and longer,
Or else he'd take me for his quean
And tie the knot much stronger.
I told him to no further roam
But manage his wedlock fairly;