Regular readers of this weblog about historical novelist and children’s writer Rosemary Sutcliff  will know my original connection is by way of being close family. Rosemary helped engender my love of traditional folk-music and ballads; but in time she had to suffer listening to my repertoire … (Actually Midland Red in the late 1970s around Leicestershire were not too shabby!) One English song I used to perform was “Maids when your young, never wed an old man”. Perhaps Rosemary would have enjoyed as much as I this award-winning rendition by the excellent Lucy Ward? (For all you traditional folk-music enthusiasts, Rosemary and I shared a love of the singing of Pete Bellamy of The Young Tradition: she because of his affection for Rudyard Kipling; I, having heard the great farewell concert for TYT at Cecil Sharp House aged about sixteen on an expedition from school with the ‘Progressive Music Society’ (sic).)

For the lyrics: 

Chorus

Because he’s got no faloorum, faliddle aye oorum
He’s got no faloorum, faliddle aye ay
He’s got no faloorum, he’s lost his ding-doorum
So maids when you’re young never wed an old man

An old man came courting me, hey ding-doorum down
An old man came courting me, me being young
An old man came courting me, fain he would marry me
Maids when you’re young never wed an old man

Because he’s got no faloorum, faliddle aye oorum
He’s got no faloorum, faliddle aye ay
He’s got no faloorum, he’s lost his ding-doorum
So maids when you’re young never wed an old man

When we went to church, hey ding-doorum down
When we went to church, me being young
When we went to church, he left me in the lurch
Maids when you’re young never wed an old man

Because he’s got no faloorum, faliddle aye oorum
He’s got no faloorum, faliddle aye ay
He’s got no faloorum, he’s lost his ding-doorum
So maids when you’re young never wed an old man

When we went to bed, hey ding-doorum down
When we went to bed, me being young
When we went to bed, he lay like he was dead
Maids when you’re young never wed an old man

Because he’s got no faloorum, faliddle aye oorum
He’s got no faloorum, faliddle aye ay
He’s got no faloorum, he’s lost his ding-doorum
So maids when you’re young never wed an old man

When he went to sleep, hey ding-doorum down
When he went to sleep, me being young
When he went to sleep, out of bed I did creep
Into the arms of a handsome young man

And I found his faloorum, faliddle aye oorum
I found his faloorum, faliddle aye ay
I found his faloorum, he’s got my ding-doorum
So maids when you’re young never wed an old man