Elsie Marley

chorus: Di' ye ken Elsie Marley, honey

The wife that sells the barley,honey

She lost her pocket and all her money

A-back o' the bush in the garden, honey

Elsie Marley's grown so fine
She won't get up to serve the swine
But lies in bed till eight or nine
And surely she does take her time.

Elsie Marley is so neat
It's hard for one to walk the street
But every lad and lass they meet
Cries "Di' ye ken Elsie Marley, honey?"

Elsie Marley wore a straw hat
But now she's getten a velvet cap
The Lambton lads mun pay for that
Di' ye ken Elsie Marley, honey?

Elsie keeps rum, gin and ale
In her house below the dale
Where every tradesman, up and down
Does call and spend his half-a-crown.

The farmers as they cum that way
They drink with Elsie every day
And call the fiddler for to play
The tune of Elsie Marley, honey.

The pitmen and the keelmen trim
They drink Bumbo made of gin
And for to dance they do begin
To the tune of Elsie Marley, honey.

Those gentlemen who go so fine
They'll treat her with a bottle of wine
And freely they'll sit down and dine
Along with Elsie Marley, honey.

So to conclude those lines I've penn'd
Hoping there's none I do offend
And thus my merry joke does end
Concerning Elsie Marley, honey.

from Songs of Northern England, Stokoe
Note: mentioned in Byker Hill
RG