> Folk Music > Songs > The Maid's Lament
The Maid's Lament
[
Roud 1074
; Ballad Index HaGa028
; trad.]
Fred Hamer collected The Maid's Lament from Mrs Johnstone of Bedford in March 1959. He printed it in his 1967 E.F.D.S. book Garners Gay. Mrs Johnstone's recording was included on the accompanying EFDSS album Garners Gay. Fred Hamer noted:
This is one of the many songs Mrs Johnstone remembers hearing her mother sing at the washtub. She is now an old age pensioner, but she retains the voice of a girl and her cheerful serenity makes all her younger friends call her mum.
Bedfordian Jack Sharp sang Maid's Lament on his 2020 album Good Times Older.
Lyrics
Mrs Johnstone sings The Maid's Lament | Jack Sharp sings Maid's Lament |
---|---|
I can bake and I can brew, |
I can bake and I can brew, |
Six days I work with all my might, |
Six days I work with all my might, |
I have a young man in the town, |
I have a young man in the town, |
(repeat first verse) |
(repeat first verse) |