The Jolly Beggar
Fiddler's Green Lyrics

It's of a jolly beggarman
This is a story about a cheerful beggar

Came tripping o'er the plain
He wandered across the countryside

He came unto a farmer's door
He approached a farmhouse

A lodging for to gain
To find a place to sleep

The farmer's daughter She came down
The farmer’s daughter came downstairs

And viewed him cheek and chin
She looked him over carefully

She said: "He is a handsome man
She commented on his good looks

I pray you take him in"
She asked her father to give him shelter

He would not lie within the barn
He refused to sleep in the barn

Nor yet within the byre
Nor would he sleep in the cowshed

But he would in the corner lie
Instead, he requested a spot near the kitchen fire

Down by the kitchen fire
He settled in by the warmth of the kitchen fire

Oh then the beggar's bed was made
The beggar's bed was prepared

Of good clean sheets and hay
It was made with clean sheets and hay

And down beside the kitchen fire
He laid down next to the kitchen fire

The jolly beggar lay
The happy beggar went to sleep

The farmer's daughter she got up
In the middle of the night, the farmer’s daughter woke up

To bolt the kitchen door
To lock the door

And there she saw the beggar standing
She noticed the beggar standing up

Naked on the floor
He had taken off his clothes

He took the daughter in his arms
He embraced the farmer’s daughter

And to the bed he ran
He carried her to the bed

"Kind sir" she says "Be easy now
She asked him to be gentle

You'll waken our good man"
Or else her husband would wake up

"Now you are no beggar
The farmer's daughter realized he was not a beggar

You are some gentleman
She believed he was a gentleman

For you have stolen my maidenhead
Because he had taken her virginity

And I am quite undone"
She felt ashamed and helpless

"I am no Lord I am no squire
He revealed that he was not a nobleman

Of beggars I be one
But a beggar like himself

And beggars they be robbers all
Beggars are often associated with theft and robbery

So you are quite undone"
She was in trouble for choosing him

She took her bed in both her hands
The farmer’s daughter grabbed her bed

And threw it at the wall
And threw it against the wall in anger

Says "Go ye with the beggarman
She sent him away with disdain

My maidenhead and all"
Along with her virginity

We'll go no more aroving
We won't roam around anymore

Aroving in the night
Wandering in the darkness

We'll go no more aroving
They decided to stop their nightly wanderings

Let the moon shine so bright
Despite the nice weather, they won't be going out

We'll go no more aroving
They repeat their decision to cease their wandering