Lyrics
(Benjamin Russell Hanby, 1833-1867)
Down in a cottage lives Weaver John
And a happy old John is he
Maud is the name of his dear old dame
And a blessed old dame is she.
Refrain
Whick-ity, whack-ity, click and clan
How the shuttles do glance and ring,
Here they go, here they go forth and back
And a staccato song they sing.
Close by his side is his gentle wife
And she’s twirling the flaxen thread,
Sweet to his ear is the low wheel’s hum,
It was purchased when they were wed.
Pussy* is frisking about the room
With her kittens one, two, three, four,
Towser is taking his forty winks
On the settle behind the door
Soft as the hum of the dame’s low wheel,
Does the music of time roll on,
Morning and noon of a useful life
Bring a peacefully setting sun
*optional: change to “kitty”
See also
- Subject: sewing
- Form: AB
- Harmony: chords I IV V
- Scale: major
- Source / source: A Singing School: We Sing,C. C. Birchard and Company, 1940
- PDF of song with chords
- MIDI file
- Listen to the melody