The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #104913   Message #2154908
Posted By: Jim Dixon
22-Sep-07 - 10:23 AM
Thread Name: Lyr Req: Maid of the Mill ('Young Harry's the...')
Subject: Lyr Add: THE MAID OF THE MILL
This song is from the play "Rosina" (1783) by "Mrs. Brooke", which is reproduced in "The Modern British Drama: In Five Volumes" [edited] by Sir Walter Scott, 1811. It is viewable with Google Book Search. It is sung in alternating verses by the characters William and Phoebe. No title is given to the song other than "AIR--Duet."
^^
Will. I've kiss'd and I've prattled to fifty fair maids,
And changed 'em as oft, d'ye see;
But of all the fair maidens that dance on the green,
The maid of the mill for me.

Phoe. There's fifty young men have told me fine tales,
And call'd me the fairest she;
But of all the gay wrestlers that sport on the green,
Young Harry's the lad for me.

Will. Her eyes are as black as the sloe in the hedge,
Her face like the blossom in May;
Her teeth are as white as the new shorn flock,
Her breath like the new made hay.

Phoe. He's tall and he's strait as a poplar tree,
His cheeks are as fresh as a rose;
He looks like a 'squire of high degree,
When drest in his Sunday clothes.

Phoe. There's fifty young men, &c.

Will. I've kiss'd and I've prattled, &c