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I repent this foolish fit, and do pray for more wit
To behave more wisely the time that’s to come,
Than daftly to lament a thing that is mispent,
which indeed is the thing I have foolishly done.
But let never a man do as I have done,
And I pray you to take this counsel of me,
To keep yourselves free till before the priest you be,
Least you be deceived deceitfully.
Concerning whom I speak my heart is like to break,
And has brought me near to my very grave;
Yet I hope I will recover, to range the world over,
And never more to be a woman's slave,
Altho no mention I have made
What is my name, tho’ I be not asham’d
To tell what I am, nor from whence I came,
Altho this woman I have not nam’d
If my name you want to know the same is still to show,
Altho it is needless the same to disclose;
My name is moorland Johnny I’m better than I’m bonny,
And sometimes I wear some holes in my hose.
———o———
THE POTATOE MERCHANT
My Father was once a great merchant,
As any in Ireland was found,
But saith he could ne’er save a shilling,
