I have often heard it said from my father and my mother
That the going to a wedding is the making of another
If this be so, then I'll go without a bidding
Oh it's kind providence, won't you send me to a wedding

And its oh dear me, how would it be,
If I die an old maid in the garret

Well now, there's my sister Jean, she's not handsome or good looking
Scarcely sixteen and a fella she was courting
Now she's twenty-four with a son and a daughter
Here am I at forty-five and I've never had an offer

And its oh dear me...

I can cook and I can sew, I can keep the house right tidy
Rise up in the morning and get the breakfast ready
But there's nothing in this wide world would make me half so cheery
As a wee fat mannie who would call me his own deary

And its oh dear me...

Oh come landsman or come pinsman, come tinker or come tailor
Come fiddler or come dancer, come ploughboy or come sailor
Come rich man, come poor man, come fool or come witty
Come any man at all that will marry me for pity

And its oh dear me...

Oh then I'll away home for there's nobody heeding
There's nobody heeding to poor Annie's pleading
I'll away home to my own wee bit garret
If I can't get a man, then I'll surely get a parrot

And it's oh dear me....