In Irish Country Songs Vol I collected and arranged by Herbert Hughes (1909) the notes on THE NEXT MARKET DAY are that it is a fragment of a Tyrone ballad that is adapted and sung to an Ulster melody.

THE NEXT MARKET DAY

A maid goin' to Comber her markets to larn
To sell for her mammy three hanks o' fine yarn
She met with a young man along the highway
Which caused the young damsel to dally and stray.

Sit ye beside me, I mean ye no harm,
Sit ye beside me, this new tune to larn,
Here is three guineas your mammy to pay,
So lay by your yarn til the next market day.

They sat down together, the grass it was green,
And the day was the fairest that ever was seen,
Oh, the look in your eyes beat a mornin' o' May,
I could sit by your side til the next market day.

This young maid went home and the words that he said,
And the air that he played her still rang in her head,
She says I'll go find him by land or by sea,
Til he larns me that tune called "The next market day".

Hughes writes "Except where otherwise stated, all the songs in this volume may be considered traditional. As far as I could, I have avoided editing these rather fragmentary ballads; they are, I think, far better in their crude, unpolished state.... "

alice