Mary's Son

DESCRIPTION: "If you stop to find out what your wages will be And how they will clothe and feed you, Willie, my son, don't you go on the Sea, For the Sea will never need you." Don't question orders, and don't expect to much, for land and earth don't need you
AUTHOR: Words: Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936)
EARLIEST DATE: 1914 (Nash's Magazine, according to The Kipling Society web site)
KEYWORDS: money hardtimes warning
FOUND IN: Ireland
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Kane-SongsAndSayingsOfAnUlsterChildhood, p. 171, "If you stop to think what your wages will be" (1 fragment)
Roud #25409
NOTES [76 words]: The "Mary" of the title of this is not some random Mary, nor the Virgin Mary, but rather Mary of Bethany, the sister of Martha of Bethany. Kipling also wrote a poem "The Sons of Martha." This one expresses the view of Mary, who left it to Martha to manage the house when Jesus came to visit, while Mary simply sat with Jesus. Although most of the citations of Mary and Martha are from the Gospel of John, this particular incident is in Luke 10:38-42. - RBW
Last updated in version 6.5
File: KSUC171A

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