Oh But I'm Weary

DESCRIPTION: "Oh, but I'm weary, weary waitin'... Oh, mither, gie me a man Will tak this weariness away." The mother suggests a plowman, mason, miller, etc.; the daughter rejects each (e.g. a plowman's wife works too hard); she wants a man who lives "by the pen."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1905 (Greig/Duncan7)
KEYWORDS: mother children marriage work
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Greig-FolkSongInBuchan-FolkSongOfTheNorthEast #98, p. 1, "Oh, But I'm Weary"; #99, p. 2, "Oh, But I'm Weary" (1 text plus 1 fragment)
Greig/Duncan7 1332, "O But I'm Weary" (7 texts, 5 tunes)
Ord-BothySongsAndBallads, p. 150, "Oh, But I'm Weary" (1 text)
ADDITIONAL: Roger deV. Renwick, _Recentering Anglo/American Folksong: Sea Crabs and Wicked Youths_, University Press of Mississippi, 2001, p.75, "Oh, But I'm Weary" (1 text)
Roud #5555
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Soldier Boy for Me (A Railroader for Me)" (theme: professional comparison) and references there
NOTES [36 words]: One rather suspects this was written by some weedy young poet trying to convince a girl he was a better catch than a more handsome fellow with a lower-class job.
Wish I'd thought of that trick way back when.... - RBW
Last updated in version 4.1
File: Ord150

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