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Charlotte Alington Pye Barnard (23 December 1830, London – 30 January 1869, Dover) was an English poet and composer of ballads and hymns, who often wrote under the pseudonym Claribel. She was the daughter of Henry Alington Pye, a solicitor and Charlotte Yerburgh. She married Charles Barnard in 1854: though he was parson of St Olaves in Ruckland, Lincolnshire, they lived at The Firs in Westgate, Louth, Lincolnshire. After Charlotte's presentation at court in 1856, the couple moved to Pimlico.

"We'd Better Bide A Wee"
Music and Words composed by Charlotte Barnard (1830-1869)
[Ref. - Wikipedia]

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I CANNA LEAVE THE AULD FOLK

[Transcribed from the Broadside in The National Library of Scotland]

The puir auld folk at hame, ye mind,
Are frail and failing sair,
And weel I keen they'd miss me, lad,
Gin I cam' hame nae mair
The grist is out, the times are hard,
The kine are only three,
I canna leave the auld folk now,
We'd better bide a wee,
I canna leave the auld folk now,
We'd better bide a wee.

I fear me sair, they're failing baith,
For when I sit apart,
They talk o' heaven sae earnestly,
It well nigh breaks my heart!
So laddie dinna ask me mair,
It surely winna be,
I canna leave the auld folk now,
We'd better bide a wee.
I canna leave the auld folk now,
We'd better bide a wee.

When first we told our story, lad,
Their blessing fell sae free,
They gave no thought to self at all,
They did but think of me;
But, laddie, that's a time awa',
And mither's like to dee,
I canna leave the auld folk now,
We'd better bide a wee,
I canna leave the auld folk now,
We'd better bide a wee.