The One Thing or the Other


At the age of twenty-one, I was in the prime of life
Me mother often told me to go and choose a wife
To go and choose a wife,, I knew little about the bother
At the same time I was thinking on the one thing or the other

Mush-a-whack-a-row-di-dow-now
Right-fol-di-daddy
Mush-a-whack-a-row-di-dow-now
Right-fol-di-dee

I went to a wee girl that I for sometime knew
To tell her what me mother was advising me to do
What d'you earn? cries the sister; What d'you earn! cries the mother
And to cut the story short, says I: It's the one thing or the other

Now we have got married, we lead a happy life
I'm her loving husband, and she's my loving wife
We live in peace and unity, right well content together
In our daily occupation at the one thing or the other

A year passed away, and we never knew a care
But now the people say that we're going to have an heir
It's a son, cries the sister; It's a daughter, cries the mother
And to cut the story short, says I: It's the one thing or the other

'Twas on a Monday morning, just as me story runs
'Twas on a Monday morning, when first I heard the twins
It was on a Monday morning my grief I couldn't smother
As I listened to the squalling of the one thing and the other

From Folksongs of Britain and Ireland, Kennedy
RG
oct99