Madam - The Unthanks

a maiden walking in her garden

but her name i do not know

i’ll go and court her for her beauty

let the answer be yes or no

madam, madam, i’ll come a courting

that your favor i may gain

sit you down you’re kindly welcome

then perhaps you may call again

madam i have gold and silver

madam i have house and land

madam i have a world of pleasure

leave it all at your command

don’t tell me of your gold and silver

don’t tell me of your house and land

dont tell me of your will to pleasure

all i want is a handsome man

handsome men are out of fashion

maidens beauty soon decays

you’ll be a flower of the bright summer morning

before the evening will fade away

first come the oxslip then the cruel

then the pink and then the maid

then come a new love and then come true love

before the evening will fade away

once i layed on a young man’s pillow

which i thought it was my own

now i do lay under the willow

all for the sake of a false young man

before the evening will fade away