I had read these postings but not all the way through and had therefore not seen the Artful Codger's reworking of the Nic jones mysterious classic. I too felt that a little more plot was essential and had therefore drafted a reworked version myself that kept as much of the Jones' as well as the older version without making it too long (one of the pleasures of the Jones' version is its brevity). Here it is, for what it's worth. It should fit Jones' tune.

A Ploughman's Love for the Farmer's Daughter (Flandyke Shore)

For seven years I drove a plough,
From rising sun till late at night
My farmer's daughter I did love, she was my heart's delight, she was my heart's delight
But the farmer he hid her away from my sight
He swore that she would never be my wife

When I came unto my true love's chamber window
Where I'd oft times been before
Just to let her know unto some foreign shore, unto some foreign shore
Never to return to England no more
Ne'er to return to fair England no more

When I walked on the Flandyke shore
I took a pistol in my hand
I shot a bullet high unto fair England, unto fair England
Just to where I thought that my true love did stand
Just where I thought that my true love did stand

When to fair England I returned
Her own dear father I did meet
My daughter she is dead he cried, she is dead he cried
She has broken her heart all for the love of thee
She has broken her heart all for the love of thee

I went unto my true love's chamber door
Where I'd never been before
There I saw the light springing from her clothes, springing from her clothes
Just as the morning sun when first arose
Just as the morning sun when first arose.