In every street where young lads meet, the talk is all the same
It's of a bonny lassie that's got every heart a-flame
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Like flies they swarm about her, they court her night and day

She's pretty Mary Martindale, so bonny fair and neat
Pretty Mary Martindale, from Carlisle Street

For  looks they'd never win prizes,  but they swear their  hearts are true
They come in shapes and sizes, in every shade and hue
Some fat, some thin, some in between, some rich and some so poor
And such a sight, by day and night, they hang around the door

She's pretty Mary Martindale, so bonny fair and neat
Pretty Mary Martindale, from Carlisle Street

They send her gifts and tokens, and to look upon them all
They look just like a treasure or a kind of market stall
There's golden rings and chains, and things to wear and things to eat
There's jars to smell and books as well, and things that's got me beat

She's pretty Mary Martindale, so bonny fair and neat
Pretty Mary Martindale, from Carlisle Street

Mr. Charles the banker, he's never short of cash
So he buys her books of poetry that he reads with such panache
And Joe Divine the milkman brings here clotted cream and cheese
Dennis Brown the builder never lets her from his site

She's pretty Mary Martindale, so bonny fair and neat
Pretty Mary Martindale, from Carlisle Street

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While Mr. Black the coalman wants to keep her warm at night
Mr. Ives the Baker, well he keeps her pantry full
While Jones the draper does his bit with cotton, silk and wool

She's pretty Mary Martindale, so bonny fair and neat
Pretty Mary Martindale, from Carlisle Street

A dreadful fight occurred one night between two of the best
They both had brought her roses, and neither saw the jest
The next we knew the fists they flew,  they were rolling over the ground
We had to fetch the policeman, you can guess where he was found

She's pretty Mary Martindale, so bonny fair and neat
Pretty Mary Martindale, from Carlisle Street

The lad that finally gets her, he'll thank the stars above
Or maybe pray and bless the day he finally won her love
It surely makes you wonder how she casts her loving spell
But now my friends I must be gone, I'm courting her myself

She's pretty Mary Martindale, so bonny fair and neat
Pretty Mary Martindale, from Carlisle Street