I've been looking up versions of this all morning, and 90% of them just give The Kingston Trio version. Finally, I just entered the phrase "Miss Bailey- Mudcat" and viola! Here we are, with my earlier posts. I am very glad to see that last post by Kevin Andrew Murphy, as it not only gives a dated London broadside, but also comports with the female friend I mention up there ^ having been at the Library of Congress. It's a song that really gives a lot of room for accidental 'folk processing', and intentional alterations. I do like the wording in the last verse, and I may alter my own version which had "Next morn his man came to his door, 'Oh, John my man come dress me. Miss Bailey's got my 5 pound note', Said John, "Good heavens, bless me. You shouldn't mind if she has got No more than all your riches, But with your 5 pound note, egad, She's got your only britches." Mudcat remains the place to go for many versions of enlightenment!
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