Seventeen Come Sunday- Henry Hills (Sus) 1899 Merrick
[From: The Late Victorian Folksong Revival by E. David Gregory - 2010. Similar to standard broadside text, 4th revision.
R. Matteson 2018]
“Seventeen Come Sunday"- collected by W. Percy Merrick from Henry Hills Lodsworth, Sussex in November 1899:
As I walked out one May morning,
one May morning so early,
I overtook a handsome maid,
Just as the sun was rising.
CHORUS: To my right, tol-loo-ro loo-ro lo,
to my right tol-loo-ro lee ro.
“Where are you going, my pretty maid,
where are you going, my honey?"
She answered me right cheerfully,
“I'm on an errand for my mammy.”
To my right, &c.
“How old are you, my sweet pretty maid,
how old are you, my honey?”
She answered me right cheerfully,
“I'm seventeen come Sunday.”
To my right, &c.
Her shoes were black, her stockings white,
her buckles shone like silver,
And she had a dark and a rolling eye,
and her hair hung down on her shoulder.
To my right, &c.
“Will you take a man, my sweet pretty maid,
will you take a man, my honey?
She answered me right cheerfully,
I dare not for my mammy,
With my right, &c.
“Will you come to my mammy's house
when the moon shines bright and clearly?
And I'll come down and let you in,
and my mammy shall not hear me.”
With my right, &c.