Here’s to the maiden of bashful fifteen

This afternoon, looking for something else, I came across Sheridan’s song, ‘Here’s to the maiden’, and realised that is was something that could be illustrated with nineteenth century ‘genre’ paintings which depict life a hundred years earlier. So here goes.

Here’s to the maiden of bashful fifteen,

Here’s to the widow of fifty,

Here’s to the flaunting extravagant quean,

And here’s to the housewife that’s thrifty.

Let the toast pass,
Drink to the lass,
I’ll warrant she’ll prove an excuse for the glass.

Here’s to the charmer whose dimples we prize,

Now to the maid who has none, sir.

Here’s to the girl with a pair of blue eyes,

And here’s to the nymph with but one, sir.

Let the toast pass,
Drink to the lass,
I’ll warrant she’ll prove an excuse for the glass.

Here’s to the maid with a bosom of snow,

Now to her that’s as brown as a berry.

Here’s to the wife with her face full of woe,

And now to the damsel that’s merry.

Let the toast pass,
Drink to the lass,
I’ll warrant she’ll prove an excuse for the glass.

For let ’em be clumsy, or let ’em be slim,
Young or ancient, I care not a feather,
So fill a pint bumper quite up to the brim,
And let us e’en toast them together.

Let the toast pass,
Drink to the lass,
I’ll warrant she’ll prove an excuse for the glass.

Richard Brinsley Sheridan 1775

12 responses to “Here’s to the maiden of bashful fifteen”

willowdot21

March 4, 2017 at 10:43 pm

I really love the portraits they are beautiful!!💝💗💞💜💙💚

LikeLiked by 1 person

- gordon759
  
  March 5, 2017 at 7:24 am
  
  Thank you – I have a collection of these genre pictures that I use as rolling wallpaper on my laptop. It makes it a pleasure to look at when I am not working.
  
  LikeLiked by 1 person
  
  - willowdot21
    
    March 5, 2017 at 7:30 am
    
    Yes something inocent yet knowing about them. x
    
    LikeLiked by 1 person
KD Johnson

March 5, 2017 at 8:44 am

Maidens eh!? Whatever happened to them?
I’m not convinced by your “Brown as a Berry” picture – the sort of young woman, who might be described as such, largely doesn’t appear in such pictures. Nice try anyway.

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- gordon759
  
  March 5, 2017 at 9:45 am
  
  But that is the sort of girl who Sheridan, and his readers, would of thought of as ‘Brown as a Berry’.
  
  LikeLike
  
lupa08

March 6, 2017 at 3:24 pm

This was a fun read. Also, Sheridan is one of the most underrated writers of his time. But I loved his work on stereotyping characters to full-on consistency. The Rivals has been a repeat read of mine. Now there’s a play I’d like to see enacted.

LikeLiked by 1 person

- gordon759
  
  March 6, 2017 at 6:41 pm
  
  Many years ago I was fortunate enough to see it played in Bristol. There they sang Here’s to the Maiden twice, during the second time the audience sang the chorus – great fun.
  
  LikeLiked by 1 person
  
  - lupa08
    
    March 6, 2017 at 7:57 pm
    
    Don’t mind if I say I’m feeling a bit jealous
    
    LikeLiked by 1 person
tychy

March 8, 2017 at 10:05 am

For futute editions of this, can I nominate JG Lockhart’s “The Irishman and the Lady” (often wrongly attributed to William Maginn):

There was a lady liv’d at Leith,
A lady very stylish, man;
And yet, in spite of all her teeth,
She fell in love with an Irishman —
A nasty, ugly Irishman,
A wild, tremendous Irishman,
A tearing, swearing, thumping, bumping, ranting, roaring Irishman… [etc]

Good luck!

LikeLike

- gordon759
  
  March 8, 2017 at 6:49 pm
  
  I will leave that to you
  
  LikeLiked by 1 person
  
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Barbara

August 29, 2022 at 5:16 am

Love this! It made my night. I’m an historian, genealogist who often goes down the ADHD route which lead me to this poem/song. Also a huge fan of Pioneer Girl and as you probably know, this song was sung by Pa in the book These Happy Golden Years. Thank you for putting together this post.

Thank you!

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Here’s to the maiden of bashful fifteen

This afternoon, looking for something else, I came across Sheridan’s song, ‘Here’s to the maiden’, and realised that is was something that could be illustrated with nineteenth century ‘genre’ paintings which depict life a hundred years earlier. So here goes.

Here’s to the maiden of bashful fifteen,

Here’s to the widow of fifty,

Here’s to the flaunting extravagant quean,

And here’s to the housewife that’s thrifty.

Let the toast pass,
Drink to the lass,
I’ll warrant she’ll prove an excuse for the glass.

Here’s to the charmer whose dimples we prize,

Now to the maid who has none, sir.

Here’s to the girl with a pair of blue eyes,

And here’s to the nymph with but one, sir.

Let the toast pass,
Drink to the lass,
I’ll warrant she’ll prove an excuse for the glass.

Here’s to the maid with a bosom of snow,

Now to her that’s as brown as a berry.

Here’s to the wife with her face full of woe,

And now to the damsel that’s merry.

Let the toast pass,
Drink to the lass,
I’ll warrant she’ll prove an excuse for the glass.

For let ’em be clumsy, or let ’em be slim,
Young or ancient, I care not a feather,
So fill a pint bumper quite up to the brim,
And let us e’en toast them together.

Let the toast pass,
Drink to the lass,
I’ll warrant she’ll prove an excuse for the glass.

Richard Brinsley Sheridan 1775

12 responses to “Here’s to the maiden of bashful fifteen”

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Here’s to the maiden of bashful fifteen

This afternoon, looking for something else, I came across Sheridan’s song, ‘Here’s to the maiden’, and realised that is was something that could be illustrated with nineteenth century ‘genre’ paintings which depict life a hundred years earlier. So here goes.

Here’s to the maiden of bashful fifteen,

Here’s to the widow of fifty,

Here’s to the flaunting extravagant quean,

And here’s to the housewife that’s thrifty.

Let the toast pass, Drink to the lass, I’ll warrant she’ll prove an excuse for the glass.

Here’s to the charmer whose dimples we prize,

Now to the maid who has none, sir.

Here’s to the girl with a pair of blue eyes,

And here’s to the nymph with but one, sir.

Let the toast pass, Drink to the lass, I’ll warrant she’ll prove an excuse for the glass.

Here’s to the maid with a bosom of snow,

Now to her that’s as brown as a berry.

Here’s to the wife with her face full of woe,

And now to the damsel that’s merry.

Let the toast pass, Drink to the lass, I’ll warrant she’ll prove an excuse for the glass.

For let ’em be clumsy, or let ’em be slim, Young or ancient, I care not a feather, So fill a pint bumper quite up to the brim, And let us e’en toast them together.

Let the toast pass, Drink to the lass, I’ll warrant she’ll prove an excuse for the glass.

Richard Brinsley Sheridan 1775

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12 responses to “Here’s to the maiden of bashful fifteen”

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Let the toast pass,
Drink to the lass,
I’ll warrant she’ll prove an excuse for the glass.

Let the toast pass,
Drink to the lass,
I’ll warrant she’ll prove an excuse for the glass.

Let the toast pass,
Drink to the lass,
I’ll warrant she’ll prove an excuse for the glass.

For let ’em be clumsy, or let ’em be slim,
Young or ancient, I care not a feather,
So fill a pint bumper quite up to the brim,
And let us e’en toast them together.

Let the toast pass,
Drink to the lass,
I’ll warrant she’ll prove an excuse for the glass.