When I was a little girl, long years ago
We wore leg-o-’mutton sleeves, called  ”gigot”
And dear little hm, hm’s with frills down-below
In the days when I was a girl

My hairs, they curled them up every night
In little curl-papers they screwed them up tight
Till my head more resembled the tail of a kite
In the days when I was a girl

In my days we sang to grandpa and grandma
Little songs that all ended with tralalalala
Or joined in gee’s with papa and mama
In the days when I was a girl

In my days our songs were not full of unrest
Soul-yearnings, heart-throbbings and lips on lips pressed
But I think for young ladies our songs were the best
In the days when I was a girl

In my days young folks never said oh what rot
Or remarked that the weather was awfully hot
Or spoke about things as the whole blooming lot
In the days when I was a girl

In those days young folks never played the banjo
And they could finish a sentence without don't ye know
Oh, we had our advantages dears long ago
In the days when I was a girl

In my days we had not much high art, I know 
But ladies could wash and could cook and could sew
Which husbands found useful and never thought low
In the days when I was a girl

Now I know you all laugh at us old-fashioned folk
Oh I know you all think oh grandma’s such a joke
But there is one thing we never did dears
That was: smoke
In the days when I was a girl

©Backwood/ Corney Grain