Out with my gun in the morning

From a broadside published by Pearson in Manchester (no date)

I live a jovial country life,
Happy am I with my home and wife.
Some people are richer, I envy none,
I'm rich enough with my dog and gun.
Early in the morning I leave my home
That is the time in the fields to roam.
Down in the valley my house you'll see,
Folks say it's small but it just suits me.

I love my wife, my pipe and my glass,
Gaily along life's road do I pass.
Jolly and free it just suits me
And out with my gun in the morning.

Who'd lie in bed when the lark sings high!
Up in the blue and cloudless sky.
Gay as a bird to the fields I go,
Back I return with the sunset's glow.
My dear little wife, as I cross the stile,
Welcomes me home with a loving smile.
Perhaps other women may fairer be
But she's my own and she just suits me.

Winter may come and the winds may blow,
Safe in my home from frost and snow.
By my fireside with my wife I sing
I wouldn't change with a crowned king.
Happy am I, in my little cot,
Contented I'll be with my humble cot [lot?].
Fellows may sneer at my low degree
They say I'm poor, but it just suits me.

This song appears on a limited number of 19th-century English broadsides and has been collected from the singing of four traditional singers in England. A number of modern performers include it in their repertoire, more on this at the excellent Mainly Norfolk site

There is reasonable evidence that this was originally sung on the Music Hall stage by a performer called Albert Brennir, with words by Frank Green and music by Albert Lee. In January of 1870 multiple notices appeared in London newspapers announcing the success of the song, for example:

In 1873 song was published, credited to Green and Lee and there is a copy in the British Library, the catalogue record specifies that the first line is: I live a jovial country life. It was not unusual for publishers to wait a few years before publishing sheet music. At that time songs written for the Music Hall were relatively disposable – if they were particularly successful and likely to appeal to the middle classes and better off workers who owned pianos, only then would they be published formally.

Strangely, the song appears in the US publication de Marsan’s Singers Journal No. 92 (c1873) under a different title, It just suits me, credited to a different British songwriter JA Hardwick. I have searched for any other evidence that Hardwick had a hand in writing the song, or perhaps an earlier version. So far I can find no evidence to support this attribution, so for now I will continue to tribute the song to Green and Lee.