Where Are You Going My Pretty Maid
Lyrics
"Where are you going to, my pretty maid?""I'm going a-milking, sir," she said."May I go with you, my pretty maid?""You're kindly welcome, sir," she said."What is your father, my pretty maid?""My father's a farmer, sir," she said."What is your fortune, my pretty maid?""My face is my fortune, sir," she said."Then I can't marry you, my pretty maid.""Nobody asked you, sir," she said.
History and Meaning
A gentleman strings a milkmaid along until he learns she has no fortune but her face, then drops her, only to be floored by her reply: "Nobody asked you, sir." The milkmaid is no accident. The rhyme dates from the era when Edward Jenner noticed milkmaids rarely caught smallpox, the clue that led to the first vaccine.
Origins
The song has its roots in traditional English oral history. While its exact origin date is unrecorded, it began appearing in printed nursery collections in the late eighteenth century. Folklore scholars believe the rhyme is a cleaned-up version of an older Tudor-era song that detailed a less innocent encounter between a gentleman and a country girl. The song has been cataloged in the Roud Folk Song Index as number 298. In the late nineteenth century, the song gained further popularity when it was illustrated by renowned artist Randolph Caldecott.
Meaning & Interpretation
The nursery rhyme is structured as a series of questions and answers. The gentleman asks the milkmaid about her destination, her father, and her fortune. When the milkmaid replies that her beauty is her only fortune, the gentleman bluntly states he cannot marry her. The milkmaid immediately fires back with the classic retort, "Nobody asked you, sir," reclaiming her dignity and exposing the man's shallow nature.
The song holds historical significance. It was popular during the life of Edward Jenner, the pioneer of the smallpox vaccine. Jenner studied the folk belief that milkmaids were immune to smallpox because they contracted cowpox, a milder disease. This medical breakthrough eventually led to the eradication of smallpox.
What is the meaning behind Where Are You Going My Pretty Maid?
The rhyme is a humorous cautionary tale about superficial attraction. It celebrates the milkmaid's self-respect and quick wit, as she rejects a gentleman who only values her for her fortune.
How does the smallpox vaccine connect to Where Are You Going My Pretty Maid?
The rhyme highlights the historical prominence of milkmaids, who were famously studied by physician Edward Jenner. Jenner used the folk observation that milkmaids rarely contracted smallpox to develop the world's first vaccine.
Lyrics from nurseryrhymes.info