I often find the way round this difficulty is to change, e.g.,

"I am a young girl and my fortune is bad,
I've always been courted by the wagoner's lad"

to

"It's of a young girl and her fortune is bad,
Says 'I've always been courted by the wagoner's lad'" ...


Not always, mind: wouldn't dream of messing with The Besom Maker, which I learned from male singers as well as from Purslow & Palmer books, & always sing straight 1st-person ~~ such a great song! Frank Purslow wrote in his note, "essentially a girl's song, although nearly always traditionally sung by men" [The Foggy Dew EFDSS 1974].