Cambric Shirt- S.A.F. (RI) 1875 Barry JAFL 1905
[My title, B version. From: Traditional Ballads in New England II by Phillips Barry; The Journal of American Folklore, Vol. 18, No. 70 (Jul. - Sep., 1905), pp. 191-214.
R. Matteson 2014]
B. Recorded about 1875, by S. A. F., Providence, R. I., from the singing of an aged man, born in the year 1800.
1. I want you to make me a cambric shirt,
Parsley and sage, rosemary and thyme,
Without any needle or any fine work,
And then you shall be a true lover of mine.
2 Go wash it out in yonder well,
Where there's never no water nor drop of rain fell.
3. Go hang it out on yonder thorn,
Where there's never no blossom, since Adam was born.
4. Now, since you have asked me questions three,
I pray you would grant me the same liberty.
5. I want you to buy me an acre of land,
Between the salt water and the sea sand.
6. Go plough it all up with one cuckold's horn,
Go sow it all down with one peppercorn.
7. Go reap it all up with a sickle of leather,
And bind it all up with one cock's feather.