The Maid Who Sold Her Barley

It's cold and raw the north winds blow
Black in the morning early,
When all the hills were covered with snow
Oh then it was winter fairly.
As I was riding o'er the moor
I met a farmer's daughter
Her cherry cheeks and sloe-black hair
The caused my heart to falter.

I bowed my bonnet very low
To let her know my meaning.
She answered with a courteous smile
Here looks they were engaging.
"Where are you bound my pretty maid
It's now in the morning early?"
The answer that she made to me,
"Kind sir, to sell my barley."

"Now twenty guineas I've in my purse
And twenty more that's yearly.
You need not go to the market town
For I'll buy all your barley.
If twenty guineas would gain the heart
Of the maid I love so dearly,
All for to tarry with me one night
And go home in the morning early."

As I was riding o'er the moor
The ver evening after,
It was my fortune for to meet
The farmer's only daughter.
Although the weather being cold and raw
With her I thought to parley
The answer that she made to me,
"Kind sir, I've sold my barley."

From Irish Street Ballads, O'Lochlainn
RG