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THE SODGER LADDIE.
Tune—"Sodger Laddie."
| This is the "tozie drab's" song in the "Jolly Beggars," found in every modern edition of the Poet's works. |
I once was a maid, though I cannot tell when,
And still my delight is in proper young men;
Some one of a troop of dragoons was my daddie,
No wonder I'm fond of a sodger laddie.
Sing, lal de lal, &c.
The first of my loves was a swaggering blade,
To rattle the thundering drum was his trade;
His leg was so tight, and his cheek was so ruddy,
Transported I was with my sodger laddie.
Sing, lal de lal, &c.
But the godly old chaplain left him in the lurch,
The sword I forsook for the sake of the church;
He ventured the soul and I risked the body—
'Twas then I proved false to my sodger laddie.
Sing, lal de lal, &c.
Full soon I grew sick of my sanctified sot,
The regiment at large for a husband I got;
From the gilded spontoon to the fife I was ready,
I asked no more but a sodger laddie.
Sing, lal de lal, &c.
But the peace it reduced me to beg in despair,
Till I met my old boy at a Cunningham fair;
His rags regimental they fluttered so gaudy,
My heart it rejoiced at a sodger laddie.
Sing, lal de lal, &c.
And now I have lived—I know not how long,
And still I can join in a cup and a song;
But whilst with both hands I can hold the glass steady,
Here's to thee, my hero, my sodger laddie!
Sing, lal de lal, &c.
