Ballads, English -- England -- Texts; Ballads, Scots -- Scotland -- Texts
Who liv'd in Cow-Cross, near West-Smithfield; who, changing her
apparel, entered herself on board in quality of a soldier, and
sailed to Ireland, where she valiantly behaved herself,
particularly at the siege of Cork, where she lost her toes, and
received a mortal wound in her body, of which she since died in
her return to London.
From Durfey's _Pills to Purge Melancholy_, v. 8.
Cork was taken September 27-29, 1690, by the Duke (then Earl) of
Marlborough, with the coöperation of the Duke of Wirtemberg. The Duke
of Grafton, then serving as a volunteer, was mortally wounded while
advancing to the assault. Croker suggests that this lamentation for
the heroine of Cow-Cross, "the Mary Ambree of her age," was one of the
many indirect efforts made to bring the military skill of Marlborough
into popular notice.
Let the females attend
To the lines which are penn'd,
For here I shall give a relation
Of a young marry'd wife,
Who did venture her life, 5
For a soldier, a soldier she went from the nation.
She her husband did leave,
And did likewise receive
Her arms, and on board she did enter,
And right valiantly went, 10
With a resolution bent
To the ocean, the ocean, her life there to venture.
Yet of all the ship's crew,
Not a seaman that knew
They then had a woman so near 'em; 15
On the ocean so deep
She her council did keep,
Ay, and therefore, and therefore she never did fear 'em.
She was valiant and bold,
And would not be controul'd 20
By any that dare to offend her;
If a quarrel arose,
She would give him dry blows,
And the captain, the captain did highly commend her.
For he took her to be 25
Then of no mean degree,
A gentleman's son, or a squire;
With a hand white and fair,
There was none could compare,
Which the captain, the captain did often admire.
On the Irish shore, 31
Where the cannons did roar,
With many stout lads she was landed;
There her life to expose,
She lost two of her toes, 35
And in battle, in battle was daily commended.
Under Grafton she fought
Like a brave hero stout,
And made the proud Tories retire;
She in field did appear 40
With a heart void of fear,
And she bravely, she bravely did charge and give fire.
While the battering balls
Did assault the strong walls
Of Cork, and sweet trumpets sounded, 45
She did bravely advance
Where by unhappy chance
This young female, young female, alas! she was wounded.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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