'Twas within a furlong of Edinborough...

'Twas within a furlong of Edinborough Town,
In the rosy time of year when the grass was down;
Bonny Jocky blithe and gay,
Said to Jenny making hay,
Let's sit a little (dear) and prattle, 'tis a sultry day.
He long had courted the black-brown maid,
But Jocky was a wag and would ne'er consent to wed,
Which made her Pish and Pooh,
And cry out it will not do,
I canot, cannot, wonnot, wonnot buckle to.

He told her marriage was grown a mere joke,
And that no one wedded now but the scoundrel folk,
Yet my dear thou should'st prevail,
But I know not what I ail,
I shall dream of clogs and silly dogs
With bottles at their tail;
But I'll give thee gloves and a bongrace to wear,
And a pretty filly-foal to ride out and take the air,
If thou ne'er wil't Pish and Pooh,
And cry it ne'er will do,
I cannot, cannot, wonnot, wonnot buckle to.

That you'll give me trinkets, cried she, I believe,
But ah! what in return must your poor Jenny give;
When my maiden treasure's gone,
I must gang to London-Town,
And roar and rant, and patch and paint, 
And kiss for half-a-crown;
Each drunken bully oblige for pay,
And earn a hated living in an odious fulsome way,
No, no, no, it ne'er shall do, 
For a wife I'll be to you,
Or I cannot, cannot, wonnot, wonnot buckle to.

Translation(s): FRE

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Authorship

• by Thomas d'Urfey (1653 - 1723) [ author's text not yet checked against a primary source]

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive)

• by Henry Purcell (1658/9 - 1695), "A Scotch tune", alternate title: "'Twas within a furlong of Edinborough Town", Z. 605 no. 2, published 1696, in Deliciae Musicae, Vol. III [
   text verified 1 time
  ]

Available translations, adaptations, and transliterations (if applicable):

• FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , title 1: "Un air écossais", copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Text added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.

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