by Anonymous / Unidentified Author
Mrs. Dyer the baby farmer
Language: English
The old baby farmer has been executed -- It's quite time that she was put out of the way. She was a bad woman, it is not disputed, Not a word in her favour can anyone say. Refrain: The old baby farmer, the wretched Mrs Dyer, At the Old Bailey her wages is paid. In times long ago we'd have made a big fyer And roasted so nicely that wicked old jade. It seems rather hard to run down a woman, But this one was hardly a woman at all; To get a fine living in a way so inhuman, Carousing in luxury on poor girls' downfall. (Refrain) Poor girls who fell from the straight path of virtue -- What could they do with a child in their arms? The fault they committed they could not undo, So the baby was sent to the cruel baby farms. (Refrain) To all these sad crimes there must be an ending -- Secrets like these for ever can't last. For say as you like, there is no defending The horrible tales we have read in the past. (Refrain) What did she think as she stood on the gallows, Poor little victims in front of her eyes? Her heart, if she had one, must have been callous; The rope round her neck -- how quickly time flies. (Refrain) Down through the trapdoor, quickly disappearing, The old baby farmer to eternity home. The sound of her own death-bell she was hearing, The murderess of children was sent from this world. (Refrain)
Authorship:
- by Anonymous / Unidentified Author, Victorian crime ballad [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 Ernest John Moeran (1894 - 1950), "Mrs. Dyer the baby farmer", R. 29 no. 2 (1924), published 1924 [voice and piano], from Two Songs from the Repertoire of John Goss, no. 2, Curwen [text verified 1 time]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2011-03-31
Line count: 34
Word count: 252