https://kidsongs.com/lyrics/the-farmer-in-the-dell.…
It was her land. Her family had been farming it for generations. But everyone looked to her husband or eldest son to be the spokesperson for the farm. So she just gritted her teeth and told them what she wanted said away from the idiot who refused to catch on. She read all the contracts and had her husband sign them when she agreed they were for the good of the farm and family. If her husband or eldest son weren’t there, she got nothing more than a cup of tea and a cookie. There were some who asked her to leave first, so “us menfolk can do what your pretty little head should never be bothered by”. If her husband wasn’t so trustworthy, she would be in a horrible situation. She knew of many women in her time who were.
You’d think she would be more grateful, but she was just so angry. Felt so impotent. By noon, she had usually begun drinking and slapping her husband. By supper, she was drunk and slapping him harder. By bedtime, she was rubbing up against him and begging for sex. When he wasn’t into it, she would take what was owed anyway. He owed her the very roof over his head after all. Then she beat him. If she didn’t know he was needed as a farm worker, he would have been more broken and bloodied. Possibly dead as much rage as she had inside her. But she managed to restrain herself. She wasn’t sure she could have otherwise.
She felt like a whore, always breeding more children for the good of the farm. She had lost a few too. Always spreading her legs so the farm had what it needed. Yet never being wealthy as a result of her efforts. She was so tired and hurt between her hips every day. She was so angry every day. There was just no getting away from that anger or fatigue either.
Her eldest son left to go to his new wife’s family farm. mostly to get away from her anger. So she started relying on the second son to be the spokesperson. Her husband was getting too old to be taken seriously by the businessmen and bankers. Funny how they would take a teenager’s word over a woman’s or a man with experience. And she became even more angry. She had no idea it was even possible.
Finally her brain betrayed her. She had a stroke. Her kids helped their dad take care of her till she was more independent. But then she had another stroke. And died.
When she walked to the other side, she found herself on the farm, pregnant, and surrounded by business men and bankers who refused to let her make any decisions. NOOOOO!! Yep her life had really been hell after all.
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