Here is a very formulaic song.tune is obviously If I were a blackbird

Scansion of each verse is not quite identical, but with a slight change to the first verse:

(Ohhh!)I am a young laundress my story is sad
And once I courted a young grocer's lad
He got me with child and that was my doom
And now I'm encased in this cold bitter tomb

It fits beautifully to The Irish Washerwoman. I realise that the tune is a little upbeat for the words, but the song's theme fits so well with the tune title.
Of course, if the whole tune is used (fortunately with the same scansion for both halves) then it is unfortunate that there's an odd number of verses.
Possibly:
V1 part A
V2 part A
V3 part B
V4 part A
V5 part B

Cheers

Nigel