THE TOM CAT. [or Somebody, Nobody, Everybody and Anybody]
Well, here I am to tell, Because it is my fancy, I lov'd a pretty girl, And some folks call'd her Nancy. Now Nance, I thought, loved me, Or else I dreamt or read so: And all because, d'ye see, That somebody had said so. La ral, la ral la, &c.
'Twas but t'other night I call'd, a little mellow, When out she pop'd the light, And down stairs run a fellow. Says I, "Pray who's been here?" When she, who thought me boozy, Cried, "Nobody, my dear, Only Tom, our pussy." La ral, la ral la, &c.
"O curse that Tom!" says I, "If he comes here, a mousing. My sweetest Nance, good-bye. I hate such damn'd carousing." "But we shall wed,: says she, "And every body cries so." Says I, "That ne'er can be. Since every body lies so." La ral, la ral la, &c.
So any body now May take my charming Nancy; Because, d'ye see, as how She does not suit my fancy. That Tom, that damn'd Tom cat, Should Nance in marriage catch me, Strange things they might be at, And, now and then might scratch me. La ral, la ral la, &c.