The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #15754   Message #143060
Posted By: Reiver 2
01-Dec-99 - 01:44 AM
Thread Name: Lyr Req: Drunken Maidens
Subject: Lyr Add: THREE DRUNKEN MAIDENS
The version I have is very similar to Len's. Can't remember, offhand, what the source was, but I can look it up if anyone is interested.

THREE DRUNKEN MAIDENS

There were three drunken maidens, came from the Isle of Wight.
They started to drink on a Monday, never stopped 'til a Saturday night.
But when Saturday night it came, me lads, oh, still they wouldn't get out;
Them three drunken maidens, they pushed the jug about.

Then in came bouncin' Sally with her cheeks as red as a bloom.
Said, "Move up, me jolly sisters, and give young Sally some room.
And I will be your equal before the evenin's out."
Them three drunken maidens, they pushed the jug about.

They had woodcock and pheasant; they had partridge and pear,
And every kind of dainty, no shortage there was there.
They had forty casks of beer, me lads, and still they wouldn't get out;
Them three drunken maidens, they pushed the jug about.

Then in came the landlord, he was lookin' for his pay.
And a forty pound bill, me lads, these girls were forced to pay.
They had ten pounds apiece, me lads, but still they wouldn't get out;
Them three drunken maidens, they pushed the jug about.

Where are your feathered hats, your mounts both rich and fine?
They've all been swallowed up, me lads, in tankards of fine wine.
And where are your fancy men, young maids, that are so brisk and gay?
We left them in the alehouse, and it's there they'll have to pay.

(Repeat first verse -- last line twice.)

Although I learned it as "Three Drunken Maidens", I can understand why it's sometimes referred to as "four." in the first verse there are three, but in the 2nd verse sally bounces in, making the total of four. This fits with the fourth verse: a bill of 40 pounds and each girl having ten pounds.