A North Country Maid

1. A north country maid up to London has strayed
All though with her nature it did not agree
And she's wept and she's sighed
And she's wrung her hands and cried,
Oh I wish once again in the north I could be.

Chorus:
For the oak and the ash,
And the bonny ivy tree
All flourish and bloom
In my north country.

2. How sadly I roamed
And lament my dear home,
Where lads and lasses are making the hay
Where the bells they do ring
And the little birds do sing,
And the maidens and meadows are pleasant and gay.

3. No doubt if I please, I could marry with ease
For where bonnie lasses are, lovers will come
But the lad that I wed, must be North country bred,
And must carry me back to my North country home.

see also Oak, Ash, and Thorn Ambletown (Home Dearie Home)
recorded by Deller Consort, also Watersons
DC