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Title
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Old Adam was a gentleman
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Singer
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Bond, Elizabeth A. Mrs.
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Song Lyrics
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Verse 1
Old Adam was the first man formed,
That everybody knows,
He never paid his tailor's bill,
Because he wore no clothes;
No white kid gloves upon his hands,
As you may well suppose,
No dandy collar round his neck,
Nor shoes to hide his toes.
Verse 2
He neither rent nor taxes paid,
Nor duns came to his door,
And he'd enough of meat and drink,
And some left for the poor;
But then the poor were not yet born,
Nor either were the great,
No thieves or rogues he had to fear,
He never locked his gate.
Verse 3
His time passed happy on the wing,
He lived a frugal life,
Nor quarrelled he with anyone,
Unless it was his wife;
He never once example took,
By other people's ways,
And never went to routs or balls,
To playhouses or plays.
Verse 4
His wife, unlike our women now,
In frills or bows ne'er dressed,
Nor ever tasted gin or tea -
Now was not Adam blessed?
Her neighbours she ne'er scandalised,
Or treated them with scorn,
She was the pink of women, sure,
Because none else were born.
Verse 5
He lived until a good old age,
Without any care or pride,
And when his days had run their course,
Alas! Poor Adam died:
Without a good oak coffin then,
They laid him in the clay,
Nor were they ever once afraid,
Of his being stole away.
