“The Young Farmer's Offer”
Description
The singer notes that, at twenty-one, he has come into his father's estate and become a farmer. He has a good bank balance and a cozy home; he asks, "And where's the lass to take my hand And be young Mrs. Armour?"
Notes
In the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries in Ireland, the shortage of land was so severe that children had to stay on their parents' properties until the parents died; they could not marry until they had a plot of land on which to live. This often meant that marriages didn't take place until the man, at least, was well into his thirties.
There may be a hint of that in this song: The singer is a landowner at twenty-one, making him a prime catch. - RBW
References
- SHenry H776, p. 261, "The Young Farmer's Offer" (1 text, 1 tune)
- Roud #6900
- BI, HHH776