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Barring of the Door 
Barring of the Door 
It fell upon the Martinmas time And a gay time it was then, oh When our goodwife got puddings to make And she's boiled them in the pan, oh. 
The wind so cold blew south and north And blew into the floor, oh Quoth our goodman to our goodwife Get up and bar the door, oh 
My hand is in my hussyfskap Goodman, as you may see, oh If it shall never be barred this hundred year It will ne'er be barred by me, oh 
They made the pact betwixt them twa They made it firm and sure, oh That the first that ever a word should speak Should rise and bar the door, oh 
Then by there came two gentlemen At twelve o'clock at night, oh And they could neither see house nor hall Nor coal nor candle light, oh 
Now whether is this a rich man's house Or whether it is a poor, oh But never a word has one of them spoke For the barring of the door, oh 
So first they ate the white puddings And then they ate the black, oh Though muckle thought the goodwife to herself Yet ne'er a word she spoke, oh 
Then said the one unto the other Here man, take ye my knife, oh Do ye take off the old man's beard And I'll kiss the goodwife, oh 
But there's no water in the house 
And what shall we do then, oh What ails ye at the pudding brew That boils into the pan, oh 
Oh, up then started our goodman And an angry man was he, oh "Will ye kiss my wife before my eyes And scald me with pudding brew, oh" 
Then up and started our goodwife Gave three skips upon the floor, oh "Goodman ye spoke the foremost word Ye must rise and bar the door, oh" 
Child #275 sung by Jean Redpath on Skipping Barefoot and Nye on Early English Ballads SOF