Old Brown's Daughter was an English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 music hall

Music hall

Music Hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment which was popular between 1850 and 1960. The term can refer to:# A particular form of variety entertainment involving a mixture of popular song, comedy and speciality acts...

 song, sung by Alfred Vance

Alfred Vance

Alfred Peek Stevens , best known by his stage name Alfred Vance, was an English singer in the 19th Century music halls.-Early life and family:Vance was born in London in 1839...

, and became a Newfoundland folk song. It was written by G.W. Hunt (1839-1904), circa 1878, although it is often wrongly credited to Johnny Burke

Johnny Burke

Johnny Burke was a Newfoundland songwriter and musician. He was nicknamed the 'Bard of Prescott Street'. He wrote many popular songs that artists in the 1930s and 1940s released.Popular songs by Burke include:* The Night Paddy Murphy Died...

 (1851-1930). It was in the repertoire of English folk

Folk music of England

Folk music of England refers to various types of traditionally based music, often contrasted with courtly, classical and later commercial music, for which evidence exists from the later medieval period. It has been preserved and transmitted orally, through print and later through recordings...

 singer Walter Pardon on his 1975 album, A Proper Sort.http://www.informatik.uni-hamburg.de/~zierke/folk/records/walterpardon.html Peter Bellamy

Peter Bellamy

Peter Franklyn Bellamy was an English folk singer. He was a founding member of The Young Tradition but also had a long solo career, recording numerous albums and touring folk clubs and concert halls...

 also sang a version of Old Brown's Daughterhttp://www.informatik.uni-hamburg.de/~zierke/peter.bellamy/songs/oldbrownsdaughter.html on his 1975 self-titled album.http://www.informatik.uni-hamburg.de/~zierke/peter.bellamy/records/peterbellamy.html In 1991, Damien Barber recorded the song for Fellside Records

Fellside Records

Fellside Records was a record label formed and is still run by Paul Adams and Linda Adams, in 1976 in Workington, Cumbria. Paul had toured semi-professionally with the Barry Skinner Folk Group in his teens. Paul and Linda married in 1974. Starting as a folk/acoustic label. They issued jazz under...

 and it was released on the compilation Voices in 1992. The melody was rewritten by Newfoundland singer/songwriter Ron Hynes

Ron Hynes

Ron Hynes is a popular folk singer-songwriter from Newfoundland. He is especially known for his composition "Sonny's Dream," which has been recorded worldwide by many artists and was named the 41st greatest Canadian song of all time on the 2005 CBC Radio One series 50 Tracks: The Canadian...

 and Hynes' version was covered by Great Big Sea

Great Big Sea

Great Big Sea is a Canadian folk-rock band from Newfoundland and Labrador, best known for performing energetic rock interpretations of traditional Newfoundland folk songs including sea shanties, which draw from the island's 500-year-old Irish, English, and French heritage...

 on their 1999 album, Turn.

Lyrics

There is an ancient party at the other end of town,

He keeps a little grocery store and the ancient's name is Brown;

He has a lovely daughter, such a treat I never saw,

Oh, I only hope someday to be the old man's son-in-law.

Old Brown sells from off the shelf most anything you please,

He's got Jew's harp

Jew's harp

The Jew's harp, jaw harp, mouth harp, Ozark harp, trump or juice harp, is thought to be one of the oldest musical instruments in the world; a musician apparently playing it can be seen in a Chinese drawing from the 4th century BC...

s for the little boys, lollipops, and cheese;

His daughter minds the store, and it's a treat to see her serve,

I'd like to run away with her, but I don't have the nerve.

And it's Old Brown's daughter is a proper sort of girl,

Old Brown's daughter is as fair as any pearl;

I wish I was a Lord Mayor

Lord Mayor

The Lord Mayor is the title of the Mayor of a major city, with special recognition.-Commonwealth of Nations:* In Australia it is a political position. Australian cities with Lord Mayors: Adelaide, Brisbane, Darwin, Hobart, Melbourne, Newcastle, Parramatta, Perth, Sydney, and Wollongong...

, Marquis

Marquess

A marquess or marquis is a nobleman of hereditary rank in various European peerages and in those of some of their former colonies. The term is also used to translate equivalent oriental styles, as in imperial China, Japan, and Vietnam...

, or an Earl

Earl

An earl is a member of the nobility. The title is Anglo-Saxon, akin to the Scandinavian form jarl, and meant "chieftain", particularly a chieftain set to rule a territory in a king's stead. In Scandinavia, it became obsolete in the Middle Ages and was replaced with duke...

,

And blow me if I wouldn't marry Old Brown's girl.

Well Poor Old Brown now has trouble with the gout,

He grumbles in his little parlour when he can't get out;

And when I make a purchase and she hands me the change,

That girl she makes me pulverised, I feel so very strange.

And it's Old Brown's daughter is a proper sort of girl,

Old Brown's daughter is as fair as any pearl;

I wish I was a Lord Mayor, Marquis, or an Earl,

And blow me if I wouldn't marry Old Brown's girl.

Miss Brown she smiles so sweetly when I say a tender word,

But Old Brown says that she must wed a Marquis or a Lord;

Well, I don't suppose it's ever one of those things I will be,

But, by jingo

By Jingo

The expression "by Jingo" is apparently a minced oath that appeared rarely in print, but which may be traced as far back as to at least the 17th century in a transparent euphemism for "by Jesus"...

, next election I will run for Trinity

Trinity, Newfoundland and Labrador

Trinity is a small town located on Trinity Bay in Newfoundland and Labrador.The harbour at Trinity was first used by fishing ships around the 16th century. The Portuguese explorer Gaspar Corte-Real is said to have named this place because he arrived here on Trinity Sunday in 1501. It was settled by...

.

And it's Old Brown's daughter is a proper sort of girl,

Old Brown's daughter is as fair as any pearl;

I wish I was a Lord Mayor, Marquis or an Earl,

And blow me if I wouldn't marry Old Brown's girl.

Blow me if I wouldn't marry Old Brown's girl.