Good people, come listen awhile, now,
A sketch of the times I lay down,
Concerning the rigs and the fashions
That are now carried on in each town;
The lasses they have such a spirit,
They will imitate the new pride,
With bustles to wear on their hips, boys,
To make them look buxom beside.
… Stuff slippers and white cotton stockings,
These lasses they mostly do wear,
With a dimity corduroy petticoat,
It is whiter than snow, I declare;
With a fringe or a flounce round the bottom
These lasses they will have beside,
And a sash, for to go round their middle
And to tie up in bunches behind.
… The servant girls follow the fashions
As well as the best in the place;
They’ll dress up their heads like an owl, boys,
And will think it no shame or disgrace.
They will bind up their heads with fine ribbands,
And a large bag of hair hangs behind;
And when they do walk through the streets, boys,
No peacock can touch them for pride.
A Touch on the Times: Songs of Social Change,
1770–1914, Roy Palmer, ed. (1974)