Yonder Stands a Handsome Lady- log (NY) 1819
[From Gale Hungtington's "Songs the Whalemen Sang." The verses are standard except the last verse which is similarly found in Barnyards of Delgaty. This version also was possibly known in the 1700s in America.
R. Matteson 2017]
"Yonder Stands a Handsome Lady" was collected from the journal of the Diana, a ship harbored in New York under Captain Hay in 1819. The text is given in Hungtington's "Songs the Whalemen Sang."
Yonder stands a handsome lady
Who she is I do not know
Shall I yon and court her for her beauty
What says you madam yes or no.
Madam I have gold and silver
Madam I have house and land
Madam I have a world of treasures
And all shall be at your command
What care I for your gold and silver
What care I for your house and land
What care I for your world of treasures
All I want is a handsome man
Madam do not count on beauty
Beauty is a flower that will soon decay
The brightest flower in the midst of summer
In the fall it will fade away.
The sweetest apple soon is rotten
The hottest love now soon is cold
A young man's word is soon forgotten
The coffin is the end of young and old.
A man may drink and not be drunken
A man may fight and not be slain
A man may court a handsome lady,
And be welcome there again.