Twenty, Eighteen- Fred Yeldham (Essex) 1911 Carrey
[From: Five English Folk Songs by Journal of the English Folk Dance and Song Society, Vol. 1, No. 3 (Dec., 1934), pp. 130-137. This is a version of Spanish Lady I (The first stanza is a rewrite of the bawdy song "The Ride in London") with a second chorus of "Twenty, Eighteen" which similar to the version from Norfolk learned in 1871 and published by Broadwood.
R. Matteson 2017]
TWENTY, EIGHTEEN [MADAM, I HAVE COME TO COURT YOU.]
Sung by FRED YELDHAM, July 12th, 1991, and on Oct. 5th, 1911 by Mrs. Hollingsworth, Thaxted, Essex. Noted by CLIVE CARREY.
1. As I walked through London city
After twelve o'clock at night,
There I saw a Spanish lady
Washing and ironing by candle light.
Fal the ral the riddle al the ray-do,
Fal the ral the rid-dle all the day,
Fal the ral the rid-dle all the ray-do,
Fal lal la the rid-dle all the day.
Twenty, eighteen, sixteen, fourteen, twelve, ten, eight, six, four, two, none;
Nine-teen, seventeen, fifteen, thirteen, eleven, nine, seven, five, three, and one.
2. Madam I have come to court you
If your favour I should win;
If you make me kindly welcome
Then perhaps I'll come again.
Chorus, etc.
3. Madam I've got rings and jewels,
Madam I've got house and land,
Madam I've the world of treasure,
If you'll be at my command.
Chorus, etc.
4. What care I for your rings and jewels,
What care I for your house and land,
What care I for your world of treasure,
All I want is a handsome man.
Chorus, etc.
5. Madam you trust much in beauty,
Beauty dies and fades away.
The finest flower in the garden growing,
Summer goes it fades away.
Chorus, etc.
See F.S. Journal, vol. iv, pp. 294-5, for other versions of this tune to different words. The " twenty, eighteen " chorus seems extraneous to the well-known "Madam, I am come to court you" song, and perhaps properly belongs to the "Queen's Health" printed in the Journal as above cited, the numerical refrain, working backwards, possibly being a test of sobriety! There is also a kind of marching-game," Green grow the leaves upon the hawthorn tree," which used to be known in Lancashire and which is printed in Miss Mason's Nursery Rhymes. Mr. Hammond also noted a version with a " twenty, nineteen" refrain. This ends with five, four, three, And the burthen of my song goes merrily. Miss Broadwood found a version of the Thaxted tune in the ballad-opera Achilles (I733) and I remember it as belonging to a Ranters' hymn "Where is now the prophet Daniel?" ("great Elijah," "Three Holy Children," etc.)-the answer being in each case "Safe in the Promised Land." Cf. English County Songs, p. go.-A. G. G.