Wheel of Fortune- (UK) c.1830 Firth broadside; 9 stanzas
[From Bodleian broadsides online; Firth c.18(132) [no imprint, no date] 9 stanzas. Illustration of round orb resembling a crystal ball.
R. Matteson 2017]
"Wheel of Fortune"
1. When I was young I was much beloved
By all the young men in the country;
When I was blooming all in my blossom,
A false young lover deceived me.
2. He has tried his whole endeavor,
He has tried all his power and skill,
He has spoiled all my good behaviour,
He has broken my fortune against my will.
3. I did not think he was going to leave me,
Till the next morning when he came in;
Then he sat down and began a-talking,
Then all my sorrows did begin.
4. I left my father, I left my mother;
I left my sister and brothers too;
And all my friends and old aquaintance,
I left them all to go with you.
5. But turn you round, you wheel of fortune,
It's turn you round and smile on me;
For young men's words they are quite uncertain,
Which sad experience teaches me.
6. If I had known before I had courted,
That love had been so ill to win,
I wad locked my heart in a chest of gold,
And pon'd it with a silver pin.
7. Then fare-ye-weel, ye false-hearted young man,
It's fare-ye-weel, since we must part;
If you are the man that has broke my fortune,
You're not the man that shall break my heart.
8. Of all the flowers that grow in the garden,
Be sure you pull the rose and thyme,
For all others are quite out of fashion,
A false young man he has stole my thyme.
9. But time will soon put an end to all things,
And love will soon put an end to me;
But surely there is a place of torment,
To punish my lover for slighting me.