Old Beggar Man- Hoskins (NS) 1950 Creighton E
[From Creighton/Senior, Traditional Songs from Nova Scotia, 1950, pp. 17, with music. Bronson 22.
R. Matteson 2014]
Hind Horn [E]
E. Old Beggar Man- Sung by Ralph Haskins, Cape Sable Island, Nova Scotia.
I'll beg from Peter and I'll beg from Paul
I'll beg from the highest to the lowest of them all
As for money I will take no toll
Unless it's received from the bride's own hand.
O the maid came tripping down the stairs
With rings on her fingers and jewels on her hair,
And a glass of wine all in her hand
For to treat this old beggar man.
He took the glass and he drank the wine,
And in the glass he slipped this ring,
''Oh where did you get it, from sea or land,
Or did you get it from some dead man's hand?"
"I neither got it from sea nor land,
Or neither did I get it from some dead man,
This ring I received on my courting days,
I'll return it back to you on your wedding day."
The rings from her fingers she did pull off,
The jewels from her hair she did let fall,
Saving, "I'll go with you for ever ever more
If I have to beg my bread from door to door."
Between the kitchen and the hall
The beggar's rig he did let fall.
The gold upon him shone bright on them all
He was the best looking young man that was in the hall.