Bleak in the morning early
All the trees were hid in snow
Gentleman riding o'er the heather
Met with a farmer's daughter
Her rosy cheeks and her bonny brow
They made his mouth to water
Meaning to shew his breeding
I bowed to him right gracefully
He asked me where I went so soon
And longed to begin a parley
I told him, to the next market town
A- purpose to sell me barley
"In this purse, sweet girl," says he
"T wenty pounds lie fairly
Seek no further one to buy
For I'll take all your barley
Twenty more would buy delight
Your body I love so dearly
If you would lay with me all night
And go home in the morning early"
"If twenty pounds could buy the globe
It's this I'd never do, sir
Or were me kin as poor as Job
I would not raise 'em so, sir
If I lay with you this night
We'd get a young child together
And where should I find a father?"
He told me he had married been
Fourteen years and longer
Or else he'd take me for his own
And tie the knot much stronger
I bade him then, no further roam
But manage his wedlock fairly
And keep his gold for his
And some other shall have my barley
