As Performed by the Maids, with a Fiddle, an Act and a Penny Whistle
First Maid:
If I was a princess, with silver and gold,
And loved by a hero, I’d never grow old:
Oh, if a young hero came a-marrying me.
I’d always be beautiful, happy, and free!
Chorus:
Then sail, my fine lady, on the billowing wave
The water below is as dark as the grave,
And maybe you’ll sink in your little blue boat
It’s hope, and hope only, that keeps us all
Second Maid:
I fetch and I carry, I hear and obey,
It’s Yes sir and No ma’am the whole ing day;
I smile and I nod with a tear in my eye,
I make the soft beds in which others do
Third Maid:
Oh gods and oh prophets, please alter my life,
And let a young hero take me for his wife!
But no hero comes to me, early or late
Hard work is my destiny, death is my fate
Chorus:
Then sail, my fine lady, on the billowing wave
The water below is as dark as the grave,
And maybe you’ll sink in your little blue boat
It’s hope, and hope only, that keeps us afloat.
The Maids all curtsy.
Melantho of the Pretty Cheeks, passing the hat:
Thank you, sir. Thank you. Thank you.
Thank you. Thank you.