The joke of the lustful lover who is outwitted by a maid has been universally popular for many centuries. Even in this country in the early seventeenth century The Politick Maid was rewritten several times and sequels abounded in which the witless youth is subjected to further humiliation, the maid always winning the battle of wits. At school we all sang versions collected by Cecil Sharp but neither we nor the teachers were aware of the bawdy nature of what we were singing, we just enjoyed the lively tune and chorus.

Notes by Steve Gardham