A'body's Like to be Married but Me

DESCRIPTION: "As Jenny sat down wi' her wheel b the fire... She said to herself... "Oh! a'body's like to be married but me." She recalls the companions of her youth, perhaps interested then but no longer. She concludes they are worthless -- but still feels unhappy
AUTHOR: (credited to Duncan Gray in The Scots Magazine)
EARLIEST DATE: 1802 (The Scots Magazine)
KEYWORDS: oldmaid rejection loneliness
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland)
REFERENCES (7 citations):
Ford-VagabondSongsAndBalladsOfScotland, pp. 299-300, "A'body's Like to be Married but Me" (1 text)
Greig-FolkSongInBuchan-FolkSongOfTheNorthEast #18, p. 1, ("As Bessie sat doon wi' her seam by the fire") (1 text)
Greig/Duncan7 1374, "A'body's Like to Be Married but Me" (5 texts, 3 tunes)
Whitelaw-BookOfScottishSong, pp. 253-254, "A'body's Like to be Married" (1 text)
ADDITIONAL:( No editor listed), _The Scots Magazine_, Vol. 64 (Edinburgh), 1802 (available on Google Books), p. 593, "The Neglectit Lassie" (1 text)
(No editor listed), _The British Musical Miscellany; Being a Collection of Scotch, English, & Irish Songs_, T. Turnbull (Edinburgh, 1805 (available on Google Books), pp. 21-22, "A' Body's Like to Be Married but Me" (1 text, 1 tune)
Songs of Scotland (Glasgow, 1872) ("Digitized by Google")), p. 289, "A'body's Like to be Married but Me" (1 text)

Roud #7160
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Old Maid's Song (I)" and references there
ALTERNATE TITLES:
The Old Maid's Lament
NOTES [46 words]: Whitelaw: "We find the original of this in the Scots Magazine for July 1802, where it is signed 'Duncan Gray.'" - BS
[After this was published in 1802, it was] soon republished with a tune, a new title (the one it has been known by ever since), and slightly altered lyrics. - JD
Last updated in version 6.4
File: FVS299

Go to the Ballad Search form
Go to the Ballad Index Song List

Go to the Ballad Index Instructions
Go to the Ballad Index Bibliography or Discography

The Ballad Index Copyright 2024 by Robert B. Waltz and David G. Engle.