The Wishing Wife - Kate Rusby

Once upon a time there was a man who scorned his wife

He was never happy with his lot or with his life

His manners they were miserable

And he couldn’t be polite

And his wife found a wishing well one morning

She said I wish to all you’ll hear me

I wish with all I see

Take this man and make him small

As small as he can be…

This man he was as spoilt as the cat that got the cream

He would shout and swear and carry on like you have never seen

Childlike and stubborn

Like a mule by the sea

Then his wife found a wishing well one morning

She said I wish to all you’d hear me

I wish with all I see

Take this man and make him kind

As kind as he can be…

This man he took no pleasure in the beauty of the land

Money was the only thing that he could understand

Selfish as a clam he was

Let all the rest be damned

Then his wife found a wishing well one morning

She said I wish to all you’ll hear me

I wish with all I see

Take this man and make him smile

As happy as can be…

That night they fell asleep within the comfort of that bed

A strange wind was whispering just what the wife had said

In the morning where the man had laid

There was a dog instead

And his wife cried for joy in the morning!

She said I wish to all you’ll hear me

I wish with all I see

Take this man and make him mine

For all eternity…