Bodleian Library Broadside Ballads, Harding B 11(2522).

MY RATTLING MARE AND I

I am a country carrier. A jovial soul am I.
I whistle and sing from morn till night and trouble I defy.
I've one to bear me company. Of work she does her share.
It's not my wife, upon my life, but a rattling old bay mare.

CHORUS: Round goes the world. Trouble I defy,
Jogging along together, my boys, my rattling mare and I.

Up and down the countryside the mare and I we go.
The folks they kindly greet us as we journey to and fro.
The little ones they cheer us, and the old ones stop and stare,
And lift their eyes with great surprise at Joe and his rattling mare.

And when the loads are heavy, or travelling uphill,
I'm by her side assisting her; she works with such good will.
I know she loves me well enough because the whip I spare.
I'd rather hurt myself than hurt my rattling old bay mare.

And when the town we reach, she rattles over the stones.
She lifts her hoofs up splendidly, not one of your lazy drones.
It's "Clear the road" when Joseph comes. "My crawlers, all take care
Of the carrier's cart, the driver smart, and the rattling old bay mare."

I would not change my station with the noblest in the land.
I would not be Prime Minister or anything so grand.
I would not be an alderman to live in luxury
And state if it would separate the old bay mare and I*.

[*"I" (sic) – but "me" would be both better grammar and a better rhyme.]