Song on Courtship

Yonder stands a handsome lady
Who she is I do not know
Shall I yon and court her for her beauty
What says you madam yes or no

Madam I have gold and silver
Madam I have house and land
Madam I have a world of treasures
And all shall be at your command

What care I for your gold and silver
What care I for your house and land
What care I for your world of treasures
All I want is a handsome man

Madam do not count on beauty
Beauty is a flower that will soon decay
The brightest flower in the midst of summer
In the fall it will fade away

The sweetest apple soon is rotten
The hottest love now soon is cold
A young man's word is soon forgotten
The coffin is the end of young and old

A man may drink and not be drunken
A man may fight and not be slain
A man may court a handsome lady,
And be welcome there again

From Songs the Whalemen Sang
Collected from the journal of the Diana, 1819
Note: Another of the degenerate versions that has lost the point
of the original. Verses 2 and 3 appear in Vandy, Vandy; last
verse in Barnyards of Delgaty. RG
sometimes sung with chorus of WHEELFOR
RG